Hellstorm
by JVC
Summary: Set around the events of Centennial Charmed, however Cole tries one last ditch effort to get Phoebe back... the only way Cole knows how, all or nothing. Reviews are appreciated! Conclusion is up.
1. Chapter 1

Hellstorm

Chapter 1: Forecast

Author's Note: Set before Centennial Charmed. I wanted to take things a different route. Phoebe Cole

Coursing through him were the powers of over a hundred demons, pushing and tugging and in many cases overlapping, an invisible feast of power that made much more than he was. Cole Turner had become a terror. However, it was what he didn't have that made him that made him so much more dangerous. They said it was better to have loved and lost…

He stalked through a long cave system of the Underworld, the dirt below his feet mixing with the ash of fallen demons. Before him were the bright flashes of vanquish after vanquish; he ceased having to throw the energy balls at his targets. He simply willed them to die and perish they did. Even their screams were dull and hollow. He felt less, saw less, heard less.

In the beginning they had tried to serve him, responding instantly to his overwhelming power and will, then they had tried to steer him in the direction of their enemies when they discovered that he was beyond reach, and after that they fled from him, simply trying to stay out of his way. They understood that he had become a raging storm that a smart individual would just wait to blow over. Word had begun to spread. What would have happened if he had done this with a Source on the throne. Perhaps it was fortunately that there wasn't.

A demon shimmered into view, casually adjusting his overcoat before he noticed the acrid smell of death, saw the signs of destruction. When he turned, there in the hollow tunnel of pain and anger, Cole could only see the demon he saw in the mirror, the man who ruined his chances with Phoebe, that which had prevented all of his efforts from bearing the fruit he so desired. Sometimes it was the Seer, sometimes it was the black hood of the Source before him, sometimes his former mentor, sometimes Phoebe, sometimes even himself. He'd tried killing himself; it hadn't worked and the agony remained. So maybe if he destroyed everything else…

He watched the demon evaporate before his power, almost like an ice cube before a jet engine. Cole paused for a moment, looking at the scorch marks lining the cavern, the floor where there was more ash than dirt, and willed himself to the Wasteland. He fished through his consciousness for the ability to seek out the essences of the recently slain demons, and then willed those orbs of sparkling light to him, and into his being. There was a brief struggle, as there was always, as they resisted bonding inside of him, tried to fill him to bursting, but he suppressed them the way he had subjugated the others. Demons worshipped strength, and that power grew from pain. Cole towered above all the other powers inside of him, and he showed them all his pain and the resolve that had grown from it. There was nothing they could do but submit.

"So, what is the plan now, I wonder," the smaller man said, glancing at Cole under salt and pepper eyebrows. He looked past him and regarded the Wasteland with obvious distaste. "You have learned nothing from your failures, you were once a brilliant mind Cole, look at what you've become, a deranged hate fiend, a mindless gorger," Cole all at once came to his senses, sensing the other man more than heard him. Layers upon layers of powers showed him the other man's various protections and shields. He sneered. "With your joining us, becoming an Avatar, there also comes an overwhelming peace, no more straddling the line. I know that's what you want, Cole," Cole's vision cleared as he ceased concentration. He looked at the man, his thin frame, beady eyes, and suddenly rigid posture. He shook his head.

"If you've been stalking me for all these past months, and you think that's what I really want, you haven't paid attention at all," and willed himself elsewhere. His rage subsided, Cole felt the press of self-pity and sadness. He raised his head slightly to see the neon sign of the bar then trudged across the street. For rage, he had discovered an endless font of demons that looked like him, smelled like him, he knew where to find them, how to kill them. They helped him feel better, at least marginally. For pity, he used alcohol. Once inside, he slammed a fistful of cash on the bar.

"Vodka," he barked. The tender walked up, curious if Cole had come from another bar, he looked drunk already. "Leave the bottle," Cole said, responding to the proffered shot glass.

Piper concentrated, displaying with absolute confidence that the food she was about to feed her son was disgusting and looked every bit of it. She had to admit, secretly, that there really was something odd about how healthy food tasted terrible. She smiled her best smile and swept the tiny spoon towards her son. An inch from his face young Wyatt realized that the green goop was just the red goop from yesterday and recoiled backwards, waving his hands frantically.

"Oh, Wyatt, baby no," Piper panicked. "It's good, tasty. You like it, it's good for you!" the last part in vain as the spoon and the bowl disappeared from his hand and lap and ended up on the floor. Piper dropped the charade and sighed, bringing her hands to the sides of her face, smoothing her hair backwards and leaning back in the chair. As if on cue, tiny blue lights filtering down from the ceiling coalesced into her husband. Leo looked down at the floor. He raised an eyebrow.

"Still not eating?" he asked. Piper rose from her seat, shaking her head.

"I can get him to eat popcorn, ice cream, but the healthy stuff, it doesn't matter what color it is or how it smells,"

"Or what kind of airplane noises you make?" She made a face at her husband, and swatted his chest, suddenly with an odd look on her face. "What's wrong?" he asked. She looked up into his eyes.

"You don't have anything negative to report," she railed inwardly against her gut feeling. "Do you?" Leo looked down, grinning at his amazing wife.

"No, I was up there for a weekly report, you know just checking in. No grim portents, no evil prophecies," he shrugged, seeming to think little else of it. Furthering that, he stepped away from her and opened a door to the refrigerator. At that Wyatt, tried turning around in his chair, interested in what his parents were doing suddenly. Piper watched her husband interact with their son, and she began to get a sneaking suspicion. Well, two sneaking suspicions. The first was that her husband was responsible for their son's lack of interest in healthy baby foods. Leo made faces at Wyatt, gesturing to various adult foods as if taking the baby's order. Piper frowned. The second of her conclusions definitely had the possibility of being more dire, but she made a mental note to reprimand her husband later. Right then, Piper had a bad feeling brewing.

A/N: Hope you enjoy it, please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Hellstorm

Chapter 2: Storm Front

Phoebe squeezed her eyes closed and for emphasis held them closed with the ends of her fingers. She opened them again after a moment of steady, deep breathing. She'd been used to magic affecting every facet of her life, but when she stared at her computer screen words had not appeared. She leaned back in her office chair and breathed out in a huff. Why could she complete her column? As a columnist, Phoebe had to admit she had come to rely a great deal on her real life experiences to draw from. Being a witch, she had lots of drama in her life, and many experiences to mold and shape so they could in turn be useful for her readership. She frowned, struggling to remember if she hadn't slept much, had been woken up by a premonition, anything magical happening, demonic or otherwise. Phoebe surprised herself to find that she recalled nothing. "Weird," she said to herself.

"Weird?" Piper replied from the door to her office. Phoebe looked up, smiling in surprise at her sister's visit.

"Woah, out of the manor, what's the occasion," she stood up, hugging her sister, silently thanking her for a break from what was shaping up to be an abysmal column.

"I dunno, you tell me," her older sister replied. Phoebe backed away from her and stepped around Piper to close her office door.

"Well," she began, rubbing her hands together. "I was trying to put words on this currently blank sheet of paper," she sat back down in her chair, gesturing "and I was getting around to the part where I'd use some event in my own life as advice, or at least blame some recent demon attack on my lack of productivity when,"

"You realized we hadn't been attacked in," Piper visibly guesstimated. "what, two or three weeks?" Phoebe nodded slowly, frowning.

"We should be worried," she said, concluding her sister's thought, then pondered. "We should, shouldn't we?" it was Piper's turn to be ambivalent.

"I'm not sure. This is the first time I've been out of the house in what feels like months. I drove here doing the speed limit. I mean," she paused, looking down at Phoebe who was looking back at her with a hopeful expression on her face. "Yeah, we should be worried. I'm going to call Paige on the way home. You don't have any plans tonight right, I was thinking we could maybe do some scrying or something," Phoebe looked crestfallen, but it swiftly passed.

"Plans? Tonight? Me?" She ended her self-pity rant with a wave of a hand. "I'll be there," she glanced over at her screen saver and moved her mouse idly. The blank page mocked her. "You should probably get out of here or Elise is going to have my butt,"

"Right," Piper replied, leaving the door open as she went. Phoebe pressed her forehead against the monitor, dread slowly growing in her bones. Maybe she could at least use that to finish her column…

Paige rubbed her neck as she spoke quickly into the receiver.

"Yes, I understand. I understand, that, too. I know, don't worry he'll be there for work on Monday. I promise," out of the corner of her eye she saw the inside of her purse animate with the light from her cell phone. She swung her chair around slightly, reaching inside. "Look, if he's not there for work, you won't have to fire him because I'll personally kill him," she grinned at the other person's reaction. Finally, she thought. "No, thank you for helping us out," she said, quickly switching from her work phone to her cell. "Paige Matthews,"

"Paige?" Piper's familiar voice came through.

"Hey, Sis, how's it goin?" she spun idly in her chair.

"Someone's in a good mood,"

"Someone should be, someone is on fire. I just cleared my third case today and it," Paige looked at her watch, stunned.

"Paige? Something wrong?"

"Uh, yeah, no, it's just I worked straight through lunch and it's almost four,"

"Yeah, I was talking with Phoebe earlier about that. We were thinking this may be a sign,"

"You mean the calm before some horrible," she paused as her boss walked by and smiled down at her for once. "Storm," she grinned and waved back.

"Well we hadn't gone that deeply pessimistic, but yeah," there was a pause. "Anyway, come straight home so maybe we can work something out, maybe give Leo something to go on when he asks for guidance,"

"Sure thing," Paige responded, saying goodbye and hung up the phone. She looked around as if none of what she were looking at was real, and shrugged. Might as well make the best of a good thing. She lifted a manila folder heavy with papers and pictures and opened it. She still had a good hour left…

The demon half shimmered, half stumbled into the room, fear apparent in his eyes. He took a moment to use his extra senses to try and detect if he'd been followed.

"Don't bother," a female voice shocked him at once, then he calmed instantly once he recognized the voice. At once she came into view and stepped around a pillar in the sparsely adorned room, lined with pillars but bright with flames. "If Cole had been after you, it's doubtful you would've made it this far," Kaia said calmly. The demon steeled himself, clearly drawing power from her cool demeanor.

"It is as you said," he spoke angrily. "There is bedlam and chaos wherever he walks. He has decimated almost all of the greater brotherhoods and cults. Demon and warlock, none are safe," Kaia nodded, as if adding to similar information she had already gleaned.

"It would seem that he really has gone insane. A shame that he's more powerful even than he was as the source to go along with this malaise," she thought for a moment, then turned her head as if listening. The demon before her stared, begging with his eyes for a solution. Just then another woman made herself visible, appearing before the other two. Kaia nodded only slightly in deference to the other woman. The other demon, however, almost instantly supplicated himself. "Seer," Kaia said, unenthused.

"We dwell in different times. The underworld is without a source and the powers of good as lead by the charmed ones thrive in ever-increasing numbers. And then of course," the Seer turned her gaze on Kaia. "there is the new phenomenon of the completely upturned hierarchy, when betters are summoned by their lesser," Kaia walked around the room, as if waiting for the Seer to finish.

"You are unhappy with my summons, fine," Kaia stopped suddenly and stared daggers back at the other woman. "but there is little to be done. Your kind isn't known for being proactive," she softened her expression expertly, stepping closer. "And that's what this situation requires, action, but it could also use foresight, so why don't we put our differences aside and try and solve the problem, hm?" she asked, pride evident on her lips. The Seer remained blank faced.

"You mistake foresight for passiveness," it was the Seer's turn to stalk around Kaia. "You forget what my kind has done for the underworld, and there is even more you are not even aware of. Even in this situation you stumble around in the dark, seeking the light," she put a hand to her chest "where I have already divined a solution," Kaia cut her eyes but couldn't avoid looking shocked. The Seer countered her expression with a knowing smile of her own. She gestured at the lower demon, still staring in awe. "Go to the surface world. Seek out the Halliwells. Tell them," she paused to look the demon in his face. "Tell them that they must come here. The fate of the world is at stake."


	3. Chapter 3

Hellstorm

Chapter 3: The Calm (Part 1)

His thoughts carried him like a leaf on a breeze. Cole had chased the sun westward until he had been inebriated in Asia, Europe, and the East Coast. He felt stone against his palms; it was around the right height but the wrong material. And the place was dark, too, with the smell of age and disrepair. Cole could almost feel himself grin sardonically as he slumped against the above ground tomb, his clumsy fingers rubbing against the engravings of someone's name, probably long forgotten.

"Who are you?" he begged the stone. "Some, some man or woman, a lover? Forgotten, forsaken. Did he or she reciprocate," he heard tears drip from his chin and sprinkle spots on the dusty floor. "Did she ever really know?" Cole slumped forward, finally surrendering to unconsciousness. He did so knowing the nightmares beyond sleep would be worse than his waking reality, but right then he couldn't care anymore. Soon it would be night. Perhaps forever.

Phoebe met Paige in the driveway. The growing feeling of dread she could conjure from a normal day, commute breakfast work lunch work commute, had set in finally. She was a witch. Her norm was not the average person's norm. Her norm had the kitchen smelling like eye of newt and frog's tongue; her norm was filled with explosions and spells and drama. It was as if she were finally beginning to understand.

"Hey," Paige walked up, not looking at her older sister while digging for something in her purse.

"Hey," Phoebe turned away from her and started up the steep drive, scratching at the side of her nose.

"So how was your day?" Paige inquired, finding the sought after item in the form of her cell phone. Phoebe found herself shrugging.

"Finished my column. Elise let slip the Mirror may be getting a new owner soon," she mentioned matter-of-factly, slipping her key into the lock and turning it. Paige opened her mouth, suddenly curious. "Piper," Phoebe raised her voice into the house, waiting for Paige to enter so she could close the door.

"A new owner, really?" Paige asked, stepping inside. Phoebe nodded, closing the door. Piper entered the scene, Wyatt in her arms.

"Owner?" She said, shifting the baby in her arms. In response Wyatt reached out and grabbed a lock of his mother's hair and fiddled with it. "Owner of what?" Phoebe shocked herself by putting her hands up gently.

"It's not important. We should probably look into whatever it is that is or isn't going on," and to hide the expression on her face she walked past her sisters into the living room. Had she just said that? Paige gave Piper a questioning look.

"Alrighty," she responded then called to the ceiling. "Leo," she shouted. Her husband entered from the stairwell, tool belt around his waist. "Can you look after Wyatt for a bit, we need,"

"Of course," he interrupted, accepting his son. "He can help me fix the sink finally, can't you?" he asked the child, holding onto one of his tiny hands. Piper's expression became serious.

"No power tools," she commanded. Leo raised his hands apologetically.

"Of course not," he smiled. Paige furrowed her brow in remembering and gestured at Leo's get up.

"You," she paused, then realization swept over her face, and followed Phoebe, who had left them all and was halfway up the stairs.

"Something wrong?" Leo asked his wife. She smiled wistfully.

"I don't think so, which may be a problem in and of itself, but," she stepped in for a quick kiss. "We'll see, you two boys be safe," and hustled up the stairs. Leo watched his wife go, thinking how odd it was that she would want them to be safe, given that she was the one with the dangerous lifestyle. Not lately though, Leo thought, then he dismissed it and tickled his son, who laughed in response, reaching for the interesting tools at his father's waist.

Paige stretched her back, thinking that maybe talking on the phone all day was a bit better for her posture than leaning over a book. She slapped her hands down on her thighs.

"Well, I can't find anything," she said. She looked up, waiting for a response from Piper, who was intently focused on her scrying. She had started with a map of the city, then branched outward from there. At present she was trying to project her magic onto their globe, turning it slowly as she struggled to maintain her concentration. Phoebe was seated on the floor of the attic, stacks of newspapers around her, sifting through the information hoping for something, anything. Paige hadn't heard her gasp or cry out so she presumed a premonition had not come. Paige slammed the book closed, hoping that would elicit more attention. Piper was shaken from her thoughts, as was Phoebe; Paige stood up, scratching at her forehead. "So," she began. "what are we doing here exactly?" her two other sisters stared at each other for a moment, confused. "I mean come on. We're actually looking for something to be wrong. What are we masochists. Ever since I started doing this with you guys at every turn you've told me to fight to keep a life separate from magic," she paused briefly "well, it looks like we have one, I say we not look a gift horse in the mouth,"

"Or a gift unicorn," Piper said, palming the scrying crystal and stepping away from the globe to rub her eyes.

"Piper I'm serious," Paige pouted. "Phoebe you know what I'm saying, right? I mean this is crazy, right? Right?" she had taken on a pleading tone and hadn't realized it. Phoebe pushed the newspapers around idly then stood up sighing.

"I understand Paige," she started, dusting off her pants. "And yes we did say that, but," she paused looking over at her big sister, remembering everything that they'd been through "but I guess I said that because I thought magic would always be apart of our lives, you know, saving innocents, demons shimmering in and out, I mean, at least until we passed that legacy on," Paige gaped.

"What kind of legacy is that to pass on, that sounds horrible," she turned around, throwing her hands up, leaving Piper to notice the strange expression on Phoebe's face. "I thought we were doing this so we would eventually not have to, you know, earn a permanent vacation from the Elders from a lifetime of good deeds,"

"Well, we haven't been doing this for a lifetime, just a few years," Piper pointed out.

"Well," Paige could feel them ganging up on her. "Maybe we're that good or something, I mean we're the Charmed Ones, I just," she stopped, giving up. "Why does it always have to be too good to be true?" she put her head down. Piper took a step towards her baby sister, but Phoebe didn't move, Paige's words echoing in her mind.

"Paige," Piper said, comfortingly. "You know it doesn't work like that, evil doesn't work like that," she furrowed her brow "or I guess good for that matter. It's a constant battle, and when you stop fighting, that's what they want, that's when you lose," Phoebe's breath caught as if she were struck, and she was thankful no one had heard her pause. She opened her mouth to reply to Piper when the doorbell rang. Pipe turned toward her and said offhandedly.

"Leo will get it," Piper said, hoping under her breath. Phoebe wrapped her arms around herself and concentrating on pushing hurtful memories out of her mind. A moment later Leo shouted for all of them from the front door. His voice was etched with concern and urgency, and all of them shared varying looks of relief, much to Paige's chagrin.

The man at the door had a black turtle neck under a black overcoat. Black pants, shoes, and presumably socks completed the ensemble. No one had ever known why demons dressed in such obvious fashion; the only thing that made him look vaguely ordinary was the fact that Leo was standing in the doorway in somewhat aggressive posture. The tall stranger's hands were over his head, his fingers clasped. He dropped to his knees at the sight of the sisters who passed looks among themselves and then to Leo, who encouraged them not to use force. He looked down at the man.

"Tell them what you told me," Leo demanded.

"I'm a demon," the stranger spoke. At their reaction he showed no defensiveness or fear. "I was sent here by the Seer," he said, raising his head, somewhat proudly, revealing his throat. Piper relaxed a fraction from her defensive posture.

"We vanquished the Seer," Phoebe breathed, her eyes somewhat wide. The demon on his knees rolled his eyes.

"You vanquished a Seer, but there are many with her gift, namely the rest of her kind,"

"Just," Leo spoke quickly, then restrained himself. "Tell them why she sent you,"

"She says to tell you, to," he paused, frowning "ask you to meet with her," the sisters' eyes grew wide. "The fate of the world is at stake," he mentioned. Paige's face crinkled in disgust.

"This is ridiculous," maintaining her combat pose. She looked down at him. "You rang the doorbell? He rang the doorbell," she dropped her hands and stood to her full height. "You know I," she paused then decided to finish her statement. "Yes, I preferred it when they just shimmered in, this is too weird," Piper looked up at her husband, her confident rock. Unlike her youngest sister, her stomach had just done a flip.

"She's right," she held his gaze. "What's going on?" she asked him.

"What's going on," the demon on his knees sneered, angrily. "Is the end of days."


	4. Chapter 4

Hellstorm

Chapter 4: The Calm (Part II)

Phoebe started her car, taking comfort from the activity of doing something, concentrating on something. She looked out of her window at the manor, and pulled out into the street. She needed time to think, not that where she was going would help with that, but maybe the drive would. They had sent the demon away, telling him to inform the Seer that they would think about her offer and get back to her. If this one was as powerful as the last, and had her foresight, likely she knew they mostly wanted to time to make potions and protection spells before they walked into what could most likely be a trap.

Piper had volunteered to do the potion work, and Paige stayed to help, which left the protection spells to Phoebe. For once though, when she wanted to step out she didn't need a lame excuse, they thought they understood. Phoebe turned right on a familiar path through the city, hoping that Piper hadn't completely understood. Driving with trembling hands, Phoebe wasn't sure she completely understood herself.

Sifting through the newspapers in the attic she hadn't gotten a premonition, because when something was wrong in the past, there had only been one time when she couldn't have a premonition when she needed one, but she had come across an oddity with nothing but an observing eye: the obituary section of the various papers had spilled over into stories ranging from front page worthy to barely mentionable, but they all fell under the category of unexplained or mysterious deaths or disappearances. Politicians, lawyers, doctors, business men and women, all those that were article worthy were powerful and in high standing. Typically whenever an innocent were killed, especially in a detectable string, they were the first ones to know, and here it had been weeks, which only left one real alternative.

Phoebe parked the car and walked through the doors in the direction of the elevator. Emotions running the spectrum between comfort and sadness weighed her down and buoyed her. She pressed the button for the top floor, wishing that the lift would both slow and hurry. There had been a time when she would've tried to inch out into the murky waters of her raging emotions, but instead she bottled them up and ignored them. She closed her eyes and put on her best business face as the doors opened. The scene remained the same as she remembered it from over a month past, when he had angered her and her sisters into trying to vanquish him, an attempt which had failed utterly. The windows remained shattered, the patio doors flung open, glass littering the floor. Some of the furniture had been moved, but not much, Phoebe could detect imperceptible changes in the place she had once called her home. Without thinking she walked to the patio doors and closed them against the breeze, even though most of the windows had been blown out. After she closed the last of them she looked down and saw the reflection of two demons who shimmered into view. She spun around, ready for a fight. Phoebe saw in their eyes they expected the same, though not with her. Each of them held vials in their hands, poised to throw; upon seeing her they paused, staring at each other.

"It might still be him," one said to the other. The other squinted as if that would help.

"Maybe," Phoebe opened her mouth to speak but before she could one had thrown a potion at her. It landed at her feet, purple liquid sloshing onto her shoes, but otherwise having no effect. "Crap," he said, and they both shimmered out. Phoebe held up a staying hand, but they were gone. Staring at the liquid spread slowly among the glass shards her mind went places she preferred it didn't. She combated her thinking with activity, stepping to the desk and retrieving a handful of tissues to wipe off the offending liquid, which she now knew to be a vanquishing potion, which answered her question as to why he wasn't here. Phoebe closed her eyes; she didn't want to know. She snatched at the tissue box again, and it tumbled over, as she emptied it with her jerky movements. As it fell, an envelope fell flat onto the desk into place. Phoebe's eyes moved past it to the familiar picture of them together; she knelt, half to get a better angle to clean her shoes, half to hide from herself her shaky knees. She recognized the envelope and wanted anything but to read it, but she couldn't help but reach out with a shaky hand. Paige was right; she was a masochist. Phoebe picked up the letter and swallowed the lump in her throat, and stuffed it quickly in her purse. She turned away from the desk and walked towards the elevator; inside she tried to tell herself she was headed home.

"Well?" Piper gestured at her husband, begging an explanation as he orbed in. Paige, beside her, stirring idly, simply lifted an eyebrow. Leo raised his eyebrows and put his hands in his pockets.

"It's," he started.

"It's what?" Paige blurted. Piper shushed her.

"It's complicated," Leo started again, and began pacing. "On the one hand, there aren't any prophecies or portents or anything that have to do with the present or even foreseeable future," the sisters looked at each other. "On the other hand, they have noticed the balance tipping," Paige blinked, confused.

"Wait, that's a bad thing?" Piper asked, voicing her sister's thoughts. Leo raised his hands as if they were scales in an unknowing gesture.

"Well, technically, good and evil balance each other out, there can't, or shouldn't be too much of either. It sort of, it's related to the nature of how the mortal realm works, is supposed to work," Paige threw her arms up.

"That means we'll be at this forever!" she screamed. Leo put a hand up.

"No, just because they tend to stay more or less equal doesn't mean that the sources do, too," he hoped it would stop her tirade, but it didn't. "Like I said, it's complicated," He looked at his wife lovingly; she held up a finger pensively.

"Ok, so, there's a bit of a balance issue," she began.

"Actually, it's beginning to look more like a balance catastrophe," Leo interrupted.

"Ok," she squinted her eyes. "A balance catastrophe. Fine. What are we supposed to do. I mean, it seems like if we do anything that would make the problem worse, right?" Leo passed a hand through his hair, sighing.

"Well, we could figure out what's happening, why I mean. The Elders explained it like a vanishing, that evil power, energy, were dissipating and then, staying wherever they went," he explained it almost as if he didn't believe it himself. He looked around the kitchen. "Where's Phoebe?"

"We don't know," Paige said, who had gone back to stirring her bubbling concoction.

"Have you decided on if you're going to meet with the Seer?" Piper shook her head.

"I guess we have to, now," she said blankly.

"What?" Paige resumed her previous intensity.

"Look, you heard Leo," Piper said, exasperated. "How better would we figure out what's going on?" she asked, leaning forward briefly, then recoiling at the smell. "Besides, we're not brewing these for our health," Paige lightened immediately.

"Actually," she began. Piper swatted her silent and ushered her husband out of the kitchen.

"How's Wyatt?" Leo asked as he shuffled.

"Let's check," she responded. "We'll be right back," Paige watched them go, frowning for a moment, then shrugged, taking a whiff of her brew herself then retching.

"Wyatt's fine," Piper whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Leo responded, replying in kind.

"I'm worried about Phoebe," she replied. "I have," she paused, unsure "a bad feeling, could you just go, and make sure she's alright?" Leo wanted to ask, but nodded, dissipating into a stream of sparkling blue lights. Piper glanced towards the kitchen then sprinted upstairs.

Phoebe brought a hand to grip tightly at the mausoleum door. At each step through the cemetery she had told herself that she could still turn around, run back to her car and speed home. The door before her seemed to be holding back a flood of emotion she had been avoiding since he had come back. She couldn't be sure why she yanked the door open, but once open the familiar smell of old time, and all the emotions, came back. She sniffed once and steeled herself as she stepped inside.

The spiral staircase had fresh footprints on them, she noticed as she descended. As she neared the crypt she heard voices. She held her breath and strained to hear. The voices were muffled behind her heartbeat booming in her ears. Phoebe was scared, but not for her life. She knelt and peered around the corner. Three men were standing over a fallen figure laying behind the rear most tomb. Two of them seemed to be taking orders from a third.

"Lift him," he said to the others. They knelt and did so, picking up an unconscious Cole. Phoebe put a hand over her mouth when she looked at him. "Place him here," the leader stepped back, gesturing at one of the tombs. They slammed him down uncaringly and the man reached down and ripped open Cole's shirt.

"Are you sure, this will work, they say he is," The leader leaned back and slapped the speaking man across his face.

"I no longer require the both of you," he said, gesturing with an athame he drew from the inside of his coat. "Keep that in mind when you speak. You," he gestured to the other. "hold him down, he may stir once I begin. You," he looked back to the first subordinate. "go and watch the entrance, I cannot be disturbed," the first demon nodded deeply and stepped backwards. Phoebe watched Cole's sleeping forward, exposed to the demon's machinations. She hated him, she told herself. Then why help, a voice in the back of her head questioned. One demon held an unconscious Cole while another was headed her way. Phoebe bit her lip in indecision. She couldn't leave now. She wouldn't. Cole was…

Flecks of blue light entered the scene on the stairs and coalesced into her brother-in-law.

"Phoebe?" he asked. All three demons looked up at the white lighter.

"Oh no." Phoebe breathed.


	5. Chapter 5

Hellstorm

Chapter 5: The Eye

Leo orbed almost reflexively out of the path of an energy ball. The sphere blew a plug of stonework out of the wall, just feet from Phoebe.

"What are you doing here?" She called to him once he re-materialized next to her.

"Piper sent me," Leo shrugged, what are you doing here. The lead demon gestured towards the stairs.

"Both of you, take care of them," he said, gripping the dagger in one hand. "We may not get another chance at this," Phoebe could hardly pull her eyes away from Cole's still form, in apparent danger, and her with no way to save him. The moment echoed in her memory, meshing with other situations that she had no want to remember before tonight.

"Save Cole," she told Leo. He opened his mouth to protest, but she gripped the front of his shirt and repeated her command. Obediently, he orbed from his defensive position across the room. Two energy balls streaked past Phoebe, threatening to completely destroy the staircase and her with it. She saw Leo interrupt the head demon's chanting and orb out with Cole's body and then she fled up the stairs. When she burst out of the mausoleum Leo stood there, with Cole on the ground before him. "Come on, back to the manor," Phoebe said, glancing back.

"Phoebe, I don't think,"

"You saw," Phoebe screamed. "We can't leave him here and we can't stay," Leo was indecisive as usual, but together, the three of them, orbed back to the manor before two energy balls shredded their physical bodies.

Leo laid Cole's unconscious body on the floor of the attic with Phoebe to his back. She took a step forward, then two steps back, folding her arms across her chest to do something with her hands. The natural healer in Leo made him support Cole's head and inspect his body for wounds. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Phoebe fidgeting.

"Why don't you go downstairs and get your sisters," She nodded almost immediately and ran downstairs, giving one last glance over her shoulder. Leo watched her, seeing all the tell tale signs. He had been there from the beginning, and he was sure, just like last time, that she wasn't even aware of what was happening. Leo looked back into Cole's face. "I should orb you out of here," he shook his head, stepping over him and seeking out a pillow. "But someone I know you're in the middle of this, again."

Piper was standing on her tip toes in the kitchen with her back to Paige.

"Where are the rest of the empty vials," she said, snaking an arm onto the shelf and feeling around. "I just bought a case of like fifty. We buy the things wholesale and still," she stopped talking and Paige stopped stirring, not bothering to answer when Phoebe came thundering down the stairs in a rush. Paige pointed at the front door.

"Phoebe," she began.

"Leo's in the attic," she began waving her way into an interruption, her breath coming fast. "I," she stopped. "We found Cole, and he was about to be sacrificed or possessed or something," she spoke quickly hoping they wouldn't ask her any questions, but their facial expression told her that it was all just too much. Piper and Paige both followed her stream of details and ended up in the same place.

"Cole?" Piper asked first, her eyebrows shooting up.

"It's not like that," Phoebe groaned.

"Not like what," It was Paige's turn to interrupt. Phoebe put her hands up to her face.

"Look," she brought them down, sighing audibly. "Could we just, I mean he might know something, you know, about what's been going on," her eyes begged her sisters not to start, not now. Phoebe wasn't sure she could deter them indefinitely but right then, she just needed not to think. "Please," she hung her head. Piper granted her mercy, picking up as many potions as she could and walking past her sister, pausing once to simply say.

"Ok, but later," she said.

"Later, definitely," Phoebe assented, stepping forward to gather up her own share of the carrying duties. Paige only raised a characteristic eyebrow and gathered the remainder in one hand.

When they reached the top of the stairs they found Leo standing over an unconscious Cole, still laying with his chest exposed, his mouth slightly open, his chest rising and falling with shallow breathing. Piper sighed, stepping across the room and sitting her potions down on a table.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked. Leo frowned, shaking his head.

"Well, he seems pretty much comatose, likely from alcohol," her husband replied, thinking out loud. Paige wrinkled up her nose.

"You'd think if he couldn't be vanquished he'd be immune to alcohol, too," she said, following Piper. Leo pulled out a wallet out of his shirt pocket, looking inside.

"Well," he began pulling out random items from the wallet. "That's likely the case, unless he drank at half a dozen bars in as many countries in the same night," the sisters looked down at Cole. Phoebe reached for the wallet in Leo's hands and inspected the items. Piper came to stand next to Leo.

"You get a comatose case, the first thing you do is prop up his head then rob him?" Leo jerked his head back as it stung.

"I was looking for clues as to why he's in this state," he said defensively, not getting the joke. Paige stood on the opposite side of Cole from Piper and Leo.

"You know," she began.

"We're not going to try vanquishing potions on him while he's unconscious," Piper said, rolling her eyes. "It would be… unfair, or something, right?" she looked up at her husband, suddenly unsure. He began to shrug then nodded in the affirmative. Paige sighed.

"I mean," she said under her breath "It's not like he wouldn't want us to try," they all remembered Cole's circuitous plot involving Paige's white lighter father, Sam. Phoebe closed the wallet suddenly, tossing it down on the unconscious Cole. At the impact of the item on his chest, Cole stirred momentarily.

"Phoebe," he whispered before going back into a deep sleep. The room was silent, eyes drifting in Phoebe's direction, as she had been staring down at Cole.

"So," Paige said, more loudly than usual. "we've got all these wonderful potions, some protect, some offend," she walked over to the table with all the potions. "I figure we could at least hear the Seer out, or I should say, we're in pretty good shape to walk into any manner of evil trap," she stepped over to her sister Piper, extending a hand, begging Phoebe to complete the link. "And if all else fails, we have the power of three," she grinned. Piper glanced out of the corner of her eye at Phoebe. It hadn't escaped either of them that they had joined hands over Cole's still form. Phoebe felt a thought form but squelched it before it could fully form. She'd been doing a lot of that lately, she realized.

"Well," Piper said cautiously. "From what Leo brought back, I don't see any alternatives, so, I guess let's do it," and she broke the triangle and walked to the table filled with potions. Phoebe looked up into Leo's face to find that he had been staring at her, the way he did sometimes when he was trying to answer questions without asking them.

"You'll watch him?" she asked quietly, as if the question were just for him. Leo furrowed his eyebrows and nodded. She didn't want him to ask and she didn't want to answer. "So," addressing her sisters. "What's the plan?" Paige stepped between her and Piper.

"Well, we did the potions, did you," she looked into Phoebe's face and kept talking "Uh, I mean, the potions should be enough, we sort of overdid it, so, well, the pink duplicate Piper's exploding power, and the blue ones trigger deflection,"

"And the green one allows orbing, you just drink and concentrate is how it should work," Piper finished. "In theory," Phoebe threw herself into their explanations, taking various amounts of each.

"Cool," she grinned a bit too excitedly. Piper looked over at Leo who was still standing over Cole. Their facial expressions were identical as if they could read one another's thoughts.

"Alright," Paige said stepping forward, gathering an amount of potions for herself. "The demon told us the location, so," she paused, looking around "we ready?" After Piper had her potions, they all nodded and hand in hand, they orbed out.

Leo knelt near Cole after they'd left, and picked up the wallet and thumbed through it. In the picture section there were several photos slide lovingly into the thin slits, and each was of Phoebe. Leo could tell when they were from according to the length and color of her hair. Cole had an album of her in his wallet from every facet of their relationship, when she loved him and when she didn't love him. He shook his head; he had that same old feeling again. That same old bad feeling.

The two men met, as they typically did, in the beyond of elsewhere, in rooms with people frozen in time, or on the summit of a mountain, or in the middle of a desert; at present they were standing in a field of tall grass in the midst of a rain storm, the drops suspended in mid air. The first, with a salt and pepper beard and beady eyes, the other a severe expression and close cropped hair.

"The solution has become unclear," the first said to the second.

"He would not be convinced,"

"But could he be convinced?" the first spoke quickly, grasping onto a rain droplet and watched as it squeezed through his fist. "That is one thing we cannot give him,"

"What's more if he has it, he will be useless to us," the second replied, gazing off into the distance, as if he could see into the folds of space.

"Or maybe," the first said, raising an eyebrow "Maybe, we want him to be diminished,"

"And then all we would need would be to seize on the excess of his power," the second said nodding, instantly understanding.

"There are others," the first concluded. "We will have but one opportunity,"

"Then we must prepare," the second said matter-of-factly. They nodded at one another and then they were both gone, the scene returning to its natural state, surging rain, cutting lightning, and booming thunder.


	6. Chapter 6

Cherrylilly: Thanks, 'not bad' is the benchmark I was aiming for : )

Joleca: Thanks to you as well, we'll see where it takes us.

A/N: A bit longer than planned, but whatever.

Hellstorm

Chapter 6: A Slight Chance

Entering the now-unused throne room of the source, one demon spoke to the other.

"Why did you throw it, now we only have one potion left," he said to his compatriot angrily.

"I had to try," the other said defensively, bristling himself. Together they walked in on a trio of their contemporaries, all in dark robes, the apparent leader among them seated on the source's vacant power seat, stroking his chin. At their entrance, the five of them took defensive postures, glaring at one another.

"Who are you?" the seated demon said flatly. His expression booked no deception or patience. His eyes gleamed suddenly with a tinge of red heat. The one demon of the pair that still had his potion stepped forward, chest out.

"We're supposed to be here," he spoke proudly. "We are here for a meeting, it is you who are out of place and it is you who will answer my questions," he grimaced, though it seemed to have no effect on the seated demon, or his bodyguards, at least that's what they seemed to be. He waved a dismissive hand.

"Well, you see, that's why we're here," he revealed an athame with a flick of his wrist and began picking at his nails with it. "There seems to be some confusion," a voice that seemed to come from everywhere interrupted him.

"There is no confusion," it was feminine, chiding, venomous. "You have all been brought here under the auspice of a grand occasion," Kaia revealed herself stepping from the shadows. The two demons near the doorway stepped back in surprise.

"Who are you?"

"The last remaining member to the Brotherhood of the Thorn," the seated demon said, sitting back in the throne, unenthused. Kaia cut her eyes at him.

"You cannot be long to a brotherhood if you are the only member," she directed her attention at all of them then. "but with focus on our common goal, perhaps we can forge a new alliance, one capable of performing the task none of you were able to accomplish alone," she stepped towards the source's throne. "We all know there is more than enough power to share," She met eyes with the hooded demon with the red glowing eyes. He stood suddenly, surging to his feet, glancing over at the two in the doorway, their indecisive posture.

"I am afraid we will require some token on your part, that you are as committed as we," he said smoothly. Kaia folded her arms across her chest and smirked.

"Follow me,"

The room had new stonework, which Paige thought was odd. She realized then she assumed the Underworld was one of those fixtures, a demonic planescape that had existed for eons and it was dirty, dark, and generally one huge cave. This room resembled something that might have been on the set of 300, a room with five sides, about as big across as the manor and probably taller with 5 columns in the center, each the point of a pentagram inscribed on the floor. There was a round table in the very center of the room; while it looked as though it could seat about seven, when they orbed in there was only one present.

Phoebe had almost expected it to be the Seer that she had known, that she had watch steal her baby and then destroy herself, almost as if she needed to see the woman again, to spit into her face. Still, there were similarities and she surmised that seers must be similar to demons or warlocks or witches, each with their own cultural minutia that made them who they were. The tiny woman was dressed in layered wraps of burnt orange and brown with a series of baubles adorning her wrists, ears, and neck. Finally there was the piercing gaze, and the confident smile.

Pipe spoke first. "So, we're here," she left the comment hanging as if the Seer would rattle off what she wanted to say so she could leave. Things never felt right when they had to come down there; it always felt like a trap. Somehow, being able to call on Leo, though she only did in the direst of times, was a comfort, not just because he was their white lighter, but her husband. The Seer tilted her head slightly to the side.

"We have much to discuss, why don't you sit," she gestured to three chairs on the opposite side of the table.

"We'll stand," Paige answered definitively. The Seer grinned almost enough to reveal her teeth.

"You believe I would go through the trouble to lure you into the depths of this place to have you sit at some evilly enchanted table," she quirked an eyebrow "That would what, strip you of your powers and bind them to this cumbersome thing?" she stood to her feet and stepped around towards them. "There was a time, a brief time, when you worked with evil for the betterment of all," Phoebe was surprised into memory at her statement, but fought her way out it. Still there was the lingering image of Cole on his knees, in agony, as the Hollow left him "Understandably that kind of trust is fleeting, but I will ask you to summon it again. We can proceed forward unless you are open to what I have to say," she stepped forward, eyeing each of them in turn. She met only stubborn faces. She smirked again. "You do not have to like me," she turned her back on them. "But you must trust." The sisters glanced at each other, a bit confused. Piper visibly fought with herself.

"Ok, fine, we'll sit, but"

"If you sense that there is anything underhanded afoot you will not hesitate to vanquish me as you did my predecessor," the Seer took her seat again, calm. "I am aware." Paige was the last to step over the threshold of the pentagram within the columns. Piper nodded, sitting down, noticing with chagrin the chairs were actually very comfortable. Phoebe sat quietly and gingerly, her eyes on the fine wood work.

"So," Paige said, wiping her chair of invisible evil before she sat "you brought us here to talk, so talk," The Seer sat forward, bringing her hands together as it praying, whispering words of power. When she opened them there was a small figure visible, though it's thin edge was all the sister's could see currently.

"There is much information you lack, so first, the exposition," she said gesturing at the thin edge. "As you are aware, a line exists between good and evil, and, many other opposites such as love and hate," she looked each sister in the face, stopping at Phoebe. "however the line is very thin, almost sheer, and there are those that are born on the cusp of this line," she turned the figure so it's flat side was exposed. They all recognized the tiny interpretation of Cole, half of him represented as his human side, half as Belthazor, his demon half.

"Oh man," Paige squirmed "Don't tell me he's involved, again," she looked at Piper, trying to tell her they should have vanquished him in the attic with her eyes. The Seer smiled knowingly.

"Involved," she tried to word out "Yes, central is more like it," She waved a hand over the miniature and then pushed the Belthazor half down so it was laying flush on the table so there only remained half a man staring forward. Phoebe gripped her purse; she felt the rattle of vials and the large, rigid shape of a letter written on good card stock. "Before his demon half was destroyed," The Seer continued neutrally "He was a rare individual. Humans, you see, have the benefit of straddling the line, given the choice to be what they will, however he was born leashed to it, feet on either side, perhaps more weight on one than the other, but his existence would stay as such until he died. The same is true had his father somehow managed to raise him as a normal, good human, weight to one side, but still with the other keeping him bound to the division which made him unique," The Seer fixed her eyes on the figure, becoming passionate.

"And when his demon half was vanquished, he came that much more unique, and my predecessor, as you know, seized on that. His missing half became a canvas on which to paint any power, and understandably, she reasoned the source would be an excellent demon to fill that void. His resulting possession," she paused, looking up at the three sisters. "You were there, I see little purpose in dredging it up,"

"Possession?" Piper asked, suddenly sorry that she did. She tried her best to look at Phoebe without looking at Phoebe but couldn't quite manage it. The Seer shrugged.

"Simple math, really. Belthazor and Cole were matched, however the source, when introduced in place of Belthazor, overpowered Cole's human half, he was more demon than Cole was human, but again, the source could never force Cole to be completely evil, as it was not in his nature," her explanation was tinged with confusion over whether or not the witches had already had this information. Their faces showed that they were not. "For individuals like him, it is natural for him to be pulled in both directions; it is in fact his greatest strength and weakness,"

"And then he was vanquished completely," she said, chiding herself mentally from straying. "And in the wasteland he was exposed to be even the rarer, more so even than any of my contemporaries could foresee, and this is intrinsic to our dilemma," she said, included them all. She placed her hand over the now fallen Belthazor half of the figure; it melted and conformed to the shape of a tiny upside down bunt cake tin. She gestured to the central island with a finger. "The wasteland, where demonic energies end up following the vanquish of their," she paused, reaching for a word "hosts, let's say. Here is where they end up, somewhat briefly, before they are funneled back here," she gestured to the swooping curves of the shape, how they all fed beneath the small island in the middle, down, out, and up. "The cycle has remained in tact for thousands of years; no demon before him could resist this process, much less turn it on its side," The Seer made a fist, and the material relaxed into a formless puddle again. Piper frowned, thoughtful. Paige eyed both her sisters out of the corner of his eyes. Phoebe didn't seem to be engaging the information nearly as well, however she was staring at the figure, so maybe that was a good thing. She opened her mouth to speak with the Seer continued. "Because he reformed into a human, albeit still with the void inside of him, in the Wasteland, he was able to move, think, and act," she tensed her hand again, and the formless liquid turned into a miniature whirlwind, surrounding the half figure, still standing, some of it filling in his other half, others staying in orbit around him, dozens of tiny motes of swirling energy. "And he was also able to assert that void on the latent demonic energies which had not yet been harvested by the organisms whose job it was to reinvest them here, in the underworld. Consuming them, he became powerful enough to tear open the barriers and escape the wasteland,"

"That would explain how he got out," Phoebe said hollowly.

"And would explain why he's invincible," Paige commented. The Seer's cackle was uncharacteristic; it was jovial and honest and not at all maniacal. Paige frowned. "What? He is isn't he?" The Seer calmed herself, leaning back in her chair.

"I would assume that you all would know by now that everything, everywhere has a balance, a check, written into its fibers. It is one of the rules of all time and space, that nothing is complete, that everything has a weakness," she gestured at each of them with a sweeping hand. "How often have you found the lynch pin of some spirit or demon, a forbidden scroll, a lost dagger, some hidden curse. These are not coincidences,"

"So, what is it, how do we stop him?" Paige asked excitedly. "You know don't you?"

"Don't you?" The Seer asked. As she quirked an eyebrow ruby light flashed about each of the pillars all at once and shield began to form between each of the columns. Piper grabbed onto Paige.

"Get us out of here!" she screamed, but the moment of panic had set in and as they formed into blue lights they bounced off the shield nearest them, landing back in their chairs. Paige stood to her feet, brandishing a potion.

"You," she yelled. "You set us up," The Seer remained seated.

"You are correct," she said mildly. "My plan was to trap you in this field with myself so I could fight alone against the power of three," she finished snappily.

"She's right," Phoebe said, standing up slowly. "It wasn't a smart plan," she paused, then concentrated on the moment. "But you did know," she said, addressing the seated woman. "Why?"

"You should know that there has not been a monarchy since his vanquish, and the chaos has only increased since his latest attacks, beheading factions, swallowing entire brotherhoods. Those that remain are not the most powerful, but they are the most duplicitous and cunning," as she spoke figures shimmered into view on the outside of the red shields. Recognition flashed over Phoebe face, which lead to confused glances between Piper and Paige "and all of them have plans for his power, to take it, or disseminate it, or leash it, and none can agree," the last was Kaia, who smiled at the charmed ones, posing slightly. "But I have seen," the Seer said, somewhat proudly. "And something must be done, or the reckoning, the balancing, will be swift and to the sorrow of all. So I arranged for you to be here, but here together," she paused, looking down at the figure. "Whatever happens next you have the best chance if you are together," she finished.

"What ever happens next," Phoebe began, and then stopped.

"What ever happens next?" Paige said, becoming frantic.

"He's coming here," Piper spoke; her voice wasn't confident, more resigned. "Right where they all want him."

"What, we're the bait," Paige said.

"No," The Seer grinned, watching realization transform into acceptance on Phoebe's face.

"I am," she breathed.


	7. Chapter 7

Hellstorm

Chapter 7: Rainfall

Violence was something Leo only resorted to after all other alternatives had been investigated, but that was his white lighter half talking, the natural pessimist. Since marrying Piper he had come to deal with the raw emotion that the threat of losing a loved one evoked. After the first hour, he had begun to pace. After the second hour he had considered leaving Cole alone and orbing to see the Elders, which he had done after the third hour, however nothing had come of that. After the fourth hour he had taken Wyatt to Victor's because he was sure he was going to have to go something. After the fifth hour that something became trying to slap Cole awake.

Demon constitution or not, invincibility or not, he was going to get some answers, and Leo was confident that Cole had some of them, or at least he had convinced himself of as much in the ten minutes it had taken to illicit a response from the unconscious man. Leo brought a hand down on Cole's face.

"Cole," he shouted. "Cole wake up," he slapped him again. "Phoebe's in danger Cole," he said, which wasn't so much a lie as it was an assumption, but Leo felt it was safe one. "So help me god Cole if you do not wake up," he brought his hand up again. At the last moment he saw the man's eyes flash open and as a reflex he orbed across the room. He reconfigured, eyeing Cole nervously, who levitated to his feet, then stumbled to the side slightly. He pointed at Leo, and then slightly to Leo's right.

"What the hell," Cole straightened himself, his senses off slightly. How much had he had to drink? He concentrated on the white lighter before him. "What the hell am I doing here?" he demanded.

"Phoebe and I found you at the mausoleum," at the mention of her name Cole softened looking down at the floor, and then around the room.

"Phoebe," he said. "Where is she? Is she here? Did I? I was drunk," Leo put a hand up.

"No, she's not here," Leo tried to capture Cole's wandering eyes. "Some demons were doing something to you. Do you remember at all?" he asked. Cole looked down at his clothes and rubbed a hand across his chest, shaking his head.

"No, nothing," he answered.

"Cole," Leo said "something's going on in the underworld, something huge, do you know anything about it?" Cole looked at the other man, standing before him. He could tell he was poised to orb at the hint of trouble. Consciously, Cole fed focus into one of his myriad powers, forcing the alcohol in his blood to thin, closing his eyes as the pain of loss seeped in. He opened them to see Leo staring at him strangely; he had never been one for faith, or one to trust really, at least not before her.

"I think," he began, fighting indecision. "I think I need help, Leo," he said.

"You do know," Leo said. "What did you do, Cole?" when the last of his inebriation was gone he could hear silence pervade through the entire manor. No televisions or kitchen appliances.

"Where is everyone?" Cole asked.

"The sisters went down to the underworld to meet with the Seer because apparently something you did has everyone on red alert," Leo said, taking an offensive step towards him. "Piper is in danger, and so are Phoebe and Paige," he said, almost angrily. "Now what did you do?"

"I don't think they can hear you Paige," Piper said at her sister, who was directing expletives at their captors. The three sisters were all crowded near one of the pillars and the Seer was standing calmly at one across the room. Paige visibly calmed himself, smoothing her skirt. She put her hands up.

"Ok," she said, "Ok, don't panic,"

"Panic? Who's panicking? We're just stuck in this tiny red room that we can't orb out of that with walls that don't transmit sound, why panic," Piper said, looking over at Phoebe, who had been staring at the same spot on the floor for the past hour and change. "Phoebe," she said. Her younger sister looked up and then wiped an eye with her palm. "It's ok, we're going to get out of here," she said. Phoebe nodded.

"I know, I mean, yeah," she said, walking over and crouching near Piper, who had changed her focus to the Seer.

"You know you could help," she said.

"Yeah," Paige said, spinning around. The Seer stared across the table at them.

"I have already foiled Kaia's plan to the extent that I can. I have brought the charmed ones to bear, and have equipped them with the full details of the situation, she will have to accommodate these new events, and she will be unable to," the Seer clasped her hands.

"You should probably work on that whole disclosure thing," Paige said, eyeing a robed demon beyond the shield. "The whole part about us being captured would've been an important detail to cite first," Piper eyed the Seer, suspecting a come back.

"Had you known, you would have fought, perhaps died, perhaps not, but you would have been separated, and without your bond, captured, and then almost certainly killed. This seems preferable,"

"Having Cole come to rescue us is preferable, right," Paige quipped. The Seer grinned knowingly.

"He will not come to rescue you," the three sisters looked at the Seer at that. "He will come to submit himself before Kaia, because that is the only option she will provide. She will strip him of his powers, then she will destroy all of us," Piper looked over at Phoebe, then up at Paige, who seemed to have a comeback forming, but it fell short. Phoebe pulled out her potions and placed them at Piper's feet.

"Give me your potions Paige," Paige looked down at her big sister, panic in her eyes. "Paige, give me your potions,"

"What are you doing, Phoebe," Piper asked her sister calmly. Phoebe took the offered vials from Paige's hands and sat them next to her own.

"She's not always right, Piper," Phoebe said, not looking up. "But she never lies. We have to do something; I'm not going to just sit here and wait. I can't, Piper," she said. Piper nodded, taking out her own potions and sitting them on the floor before them. I can't watch him die again, she thought.

Kaia pondered, eyeing the Seer out of the corner of her eye. Oh how she wish she could ring the woman's neck.

"It would seem that they brought insurance," the robed demon spoke in her ear. Sitting in the source's throne, she had seen from the start that out of them all he was the closest to her mental equal. He warranted close attention; he knew her plan was not conforming perfectly.

"It's of no consequence, you are aware the circumstances under which this room was constructed," she replied evenly.

"Even so," he spoke in her other ear. "Do you have insurance in case they breach the barriers before he arrives," She turned on him fully.

"Do you? You forget who orchestrated this to this point,"

"You mean this point where it begins to fray and tear?" Out of the corner of her eye she could see the two undecided demons were sizing them up. She was at a disadvantage, being alone, however the bodyguards were of little concern. But if all five of them were against her…

"Perhaps you have a point," she gestured at his bodyguards. "I believe you all have a knowledge of the surface world, unlike these two," she gestured at the other two and kept talking quickly "why don't you go and find him to expedite his arrival. It should be child's play to draw him here," she raised her head slightly. The other demon looked at his bodyguards, toying with the athame in his robes, nodding slightly.

"They can go by themselves," he said. One of them stepped forward but backed down when his superior glared at him. "Go." He commanded. "Bring him here, now," he said, and the two of them shimmered out.

"The plan remains resolute," Kaia said smoothly. "Happy now?" The robed demon stepped forward, eyeing her hard.

"You play a dangerous game," he spat. "Do not imagine for a moment that you can do this without me," and turned around, striding around the barriers to the other side of the room.

"And I thought we didn't get along sometimes," Paige said, looking over her shoulder. "I thought they were going to do our jobs for us right then," she directed her attention back to what Phoebe was doing.

"Could have just been an act," her sister replied, robotically. "They've done a good job thus far of tricking us," she took a rubber band and wrapped four of the exploding potions together tightly, careful not to break the glass.

"It isn't like we could hear them," Piper agreed. She looked up at the Seer, still across the table. "They can't hear us, can they?" she asked. The Seer shook her head.

"The barriers were constructed so no spell could transmit in either direction," she said knowingly. Piper frowned. "So I get what we're doing, but what are we going to throw this at?" She whispered to Phoebe, who shrugged.

"Our own prison field back at the manor works with respect to the crystals," she said putting her hand against one of the pillars momentarily. "Just like these are with respect to the columns. If we can blow a big enough hole in one,"

"The field will fall down," Paige finished.

"Or maybe it will just blow a hole I a column and we can orb through or something," Phoebe added.

"You know even if we get out of this," Piper said calmly.

"When, when we get out of this," Phoebe said. Her sister sighed.

"When we get out this, you know we still have a problem right?" Phoebe nodded.

"Yeah, half a dozen demons that we don't have the book to research,"

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," Piper said. Phoebe brought her face up to reveal her red eyes.

"What do you want me to say, Piper?" she rasped accusingly. "That I don't want to watch him die, or sacrifice himself, or lose himself, again, because of me? That I can't, well fine I can't," her voice filled with sobs. Paige put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No, don't touch me," she said.

"It's ok to be sad, Phoebe," Piper said, looking at Paige.

"Oh really?" Phoebe asked, "and could you tell me what I'm sad about Piper, do you know? Either of you?"

"You like him," Paige began, smiling briefly. "No, you love him, and you think it won't work, but then it does. It's rough, because you don't think it can work, you get all the signs, to just give up, so you do," she looked down at her sisters, but not really seeing either of them "but you realize a little while later that things hadn't happened the way you thought, or you figure out you were just fooling yourself, wishing for or hoping for it to not work out, just so it wouldn't be so hard, so you wouldn't have to constantly worry about losing what is so, so important to you," she sniffled, her eyes tearing. "But then you realize, once you don't have it anymore, how much worse it is to be without, and it sucks because you can't go back, because you closed the door in his face," she finished and then her face brightened into a smile. "Sounds about like my relationships," she laughed painfully. Phoebe looked up at her sister and took her hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. Piper watched the two of them, suddenly aware again of everything that she had that they did not.

"Yeah," was all Phoebe said, bitterly. "So," she said, clearing her throat. "We about ready to get this show on the road?" she asked.

"Actually," Piper said, putting on a brave face. "We should probably wait until their attention is elsewhere. I mean, they think they have us, so just in case this does work, we should probably let them think that right up until the point that it doesn't" she looked from Paige to Phoebe. "Right?" she asked. Phoebe felt useless, holding the bundles of potions in her hands. The Seer was standing next to them before any of them realized it, but they didn't recoil like they would have hours ago. She smiled, somewhat sadly, and extended her hand to Phoebe.

"More often than not, it is the responsibility of those who know the most, to sacrifice the most for those who know so much less, and who will never know more," Phoebe frowned, staring down at the woman's wrinkled hand. It was steady, though, and welcoming. She looked at Paige and then at Piper, before taking her hand. She inhaled sharply as the premonition took her.

"Ok, here's the plan," Leo felt déjà vu sweep over him, staring into Cole's face. He'd known the man for years; he'd been at his wedding. He swallowed. "We go down to the underworld, and I try sensing for them. If that doesn't work we shake down some demons, or something,"

"Shake down?" Cole quirked an eyebrow.

"Look, whatever," Leo said, pointing at Cole. "The point is, we go down and we don't come back up until we have some answers or the sisters," he almost expected Cole to tell him to follow him. He wasn't sure if he were upset or not when he didn't utter the words. Instead, other voices he hadn't expected called from the other side of the attic. Two men, dressed in all black, that suddenly took demonic shapes grinned at the two of them.

"We have a better idea,"


	8. Chapter 8

Joleca: Thanks for reading, I guess you and CherryLilly compose my readership. /Crai

Hellstorm

Chapter 8: The Storm (Part I)

Thinking back, he wasn't altogether sure why he had been confident. Maybe he had been excited about finally striking back against Belthazor, the Betrayer, the wretched husk. He had hurled his first bevy of energy balls at him, hoping he would take the bait and follow the two of them down into the underworld to fall into the master's clutches, to his fate worse than death.

But things had gone to hell extremely swiftly. His compatriot, who had stepped forward instead of backwards, was now a pile of ash on the floor and he found himself dangling by his throat half a foot off the ground, all of his pain receptors flashing on and off. He could barely blink, much less answer Belthazor's questions. He felt the man clench his fist around his throat ever tighter as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"I'm only going to ask you once more," he said with an ever-maddening expression. Leo breathed, unsure of what he'd just seen, stepping across the pile of ash, cautiously toward Cole.

"Cole," he said, going through the events of the past ten seconds. It was like he had been in three places at once. "Cole," he put a hand on the man's shoulder, feeling the taught muscles beneath his coat. "I don't think he can answer you," he said a bit squeamishly. "you squeeze much harder and you're going to pop his head off,"

"Doesn't seem like such a bad idea," Cole growled.

"But you wouldn't find Phoebe," Leo retorted and saw the man visibly cool. "Concentrate on Phoebe, Cole," Cole released the demon and he fell to his knees. Cole gestured lazily and the demon screamed as pieces of him seemed to slough off and meld to the floor. He knelt, obviously restraining himself.

"You're very lucky the white lighter is here," Cole whispered. The demon blinked back the agony of being contorted as he was. The best he managed was to stop screaming and to stare back angrily at Cole.

"Good," Cole smiled mirthlessly, "you're listening,"

"Where are the Charmed Ones," Leo interjected. The demon turned an angry expression to the white lighter, suddenly becoming aware that he could tough talk.

"They're safe, they're waiting for the both of you," he sneered.

"Where?" Cole said.

"Why?" Leo said at the same time. The demon coughed.

"The underworld, near where the Triad used to convene," he could feel himself dying, growing bold "You should know the place, Belthazor,"

"But why?" Leo asked again.

"It was the place in the underworld where Belthazor died, and this weakling before me was born," he tried laughing and couldn't quite manage it.

"I think I know the place," Cole said, reaching forward. Leo stepped in, but too late. "But just in case," Cole finished, reaching his hand forward, the demon's face and skull was no impediment to Cole's movement as his hand became energy, reaching into the demon's mind. The demon, moored to the floor, howled in pain as his eyes glowed briefly, and then exploded in glowing ash.

"Cole," Leo said, his eyes wide. Cole stood to his full height, his gaze focused.

"I know where they are," he said, buttoning up his shirt and straightening his overcoat. "Follow me," Leo reached out and grabbed him.

"No, Cole," he yelled, preventing the demon from shimmering. Cole's response was to take Leo by his throat and lifting him easily into the air and slamming him through a nearby table, his face flushing insane. Leo struggled against him. "Listen to me. I know how you feel," he struggled. "She's all you have, anywhere, everywhere, and you can't lose her, you can't," he felt the man's grip loosen. "I know, Cole. I understand, more than you know, but when has there ever not been other forces at work, some secret plot or plan, just take a moment to think it through, or we'll lose them both, Cole," Leo breathed heavily as he watched the steady blue return to Cole's gaze. The man nodded, and allowed Leo to stand, who did so gingerly, gripping his back.

"You're right," Cole said. "Of course, you're right, I just can't," he gathered his thoughts. "We need a plan," he looked at the other man definitively. "It's going to depend on both of us," he said finally, looking at Leo, and at the spot where the last demon had died.

Phoebe was distantly aware of Pipe and Paige helping her into a seated position. Still, she felt like she was floating. Years ago she had come to accept her premonitions without such a powerful reaction, but with the Seer it had been different. She felt her own premonition spurned on, powered, given clarity and insight by someone with much more power and experience. Phoebe's own premonition had been driven, or swept along more like, not like a car driving down a static, solid road, but a boat being carried by powerful currents that moved without respect to the boat. She could numbly hear Paige and Piper alternating between talking to her and yelling at the Seer who Phoebe could see was just staring down at her. Phoebe tried working her arms, to get them to leave her alone. She tried her voice.

"No," she said, "I'm fine, just, gimme a sec," she put her hands on the table, feeling the solid flatness of the wood and used it to anchor her returning sensations. She shook her head, which she quickly found didn't help, but within a few more moments she was mostly back, staring into the big, concerned eyes of her sisters.

"Phoebe," Piper said slowly. "What did you see," she asked.

"Yeah," Paige chimed in. "That looked pretty intense, I hope there's no permanent damage," she glanced over at the Seer as if to say 'for your sake.' Phoebe put her hand on Paige's shoulder, using her to help her stand.

"It's fine. I'm fine," she paused, shuffling the images in her head around. "But," she girded herself. "we have to let Kaia's plan work," Piper and Paige's jaws dropped open.

"What?" they both yelled incredulously. Phoebe put a hand up.

"It's just, better this way,"

"Trust in her premonition," the Seer said, staring at the other two.

"You mean the premonition you gave her," Piper said, angry for the first time. "This is not happening, Phoebe. You can't trust her,"

"She does not have to trust me," the Seer began. "Premonitions come from elsewhere, the beyond, to those who can receive them, slivers of truth translated into sound and sight. They cannot lie. If Cole is allowed to continue to disrupt the balance, the balance will assert itself however it can,"

"What?" Paige said, looking at Phoebe, "what is she talking about,"

"Evil and Good both exist in realms bound by time, and culture and invention, and innovation" the Seer said, speaking quickly. "There were times when the demons you face now would pale in comparison to the weakest of evils birthed from the pit. Demons with no sophistication and no give, when the world was a terrible place, they were the horrors that villainous mortals named nightmare," Phoebe nodded, cringing at the memories of scenes filled with gore and blood. "If there is no evil to balance out the good, there will be nothing but for them to return," Paige was silent. Piper looked into Phoebe face, searching for truth.

"But Phoebe," she began, unsure how to continue her statement. "Cole," she simply said. Phoebe collapsed into tears, clutching onto her older sister and exploded in tears. Piper grabbed onto her just as fiercely. Paige looked away from the two, out beyond the shield at the approach of one of the demons the robed leader had sent away.

"Hope comes," the Seer intoned. She touched Phoebe lightly on the shoulder. "All he must do is surrender, it is not guaranteed that he perish. It is as it was before. He submits, but you are the only one who has ever had the power to save him, or destroy him," she said, stepping past Piper and Phoebe to stand next to Paige. The two of them watched Kaia grin at them before turning around.

"Is he on his way," the robed demon demanded of his satrap. "Where is," he began when his subordinate interrupted him.

"He comes, master," he said slowly. "I am all that remains," he said, strangely. The robed demon opened his mouth to respond when Cole appeared suddenly, hurling an energy ball at one of the pair standing off to one side. He perished in a screaming explosion before Kaia held up a hand towards the shield and contained within it.

"One more move Belthazor," she began, sneering. "And the witch and her sisters, die," she finished with a flourish. The red shields brightened to orange and then to a bright yellow. Inside, the sisters, and what looked to be a Seer passed words from one to another, silently. Cole raised an energy ball, as if contemplating, then relinquished his grasp on the malevolent energies. Kaia laughed. "Child's play," she said, looking over at the robed demon, who still wore a thoughtful expression. "What are you waiting for?" she asked. His vision turned angry and he stepped forward bringing forth the athame.

"Kneel," he commanded. Cole looked down into the demon's eyes, noticing the red gleam. He began dropping to a single knee.

"You think she'll let you alive once you do this?" he asked.

"You should worry more about your precious witch following this, Belthazor," the demon took satisfaction from that statement. He glanced over at Kaia. His subordinate he noticed was staring into the field at the witches and the Seer.

"She's more resourceful than you'd think," Cole said, staring over at Phoebe. Their eyes met and Cole became transfixed by something he saw there. His breath caught. The robed demon saw the two of them and grabbed Cole's hair, yanking his gaze upward.

"I hope this hurts," he spat into Cole's face "a lot," and began chanting. The athame in his hand began to glow subtly and after another moment brightly. After another moment it steamed visibly.

"Piper," Paige said, trying not to move her lips. Piper, splitting her time between pouring trace amount of some of the exploding potion into the space between the column and the floor and staring up into the demon henchman who had taken an odd interest in her.

"What's happening," Phoebe asked the Seer.

"Cole's passive defenses are excellent, but without his active attempt to deflect an attack, a knowledgeable enough person within the craft can surmount them without enough time and the right spell," the Seer said, her gaze locked on the scene. "When he strikes it will pierce Cole's heart, and the athame, if it has been enchanted properly, will absorb all of his powers," Phoebe had stopped listening halfway through. She knew what was happening; she was going to have to watch him die, again. She wished he would look at her again the way he had before. She could feel all of his love, every bit of it. "Be strong, Phoebe," the Seer said.

"Piper," Paige said, more loudly. Piper stood, staring into the demon's face, both of them inches from the shield.

"We'd better move away from here," she said slowly, when the demon mouthed a word through the shield. She squinted. He mouthed it again.

"Piper?" Paige asked, looking at the demon.

"Leo?" Piper asked the demon, her eyes growing wide, then wider as the last unattended demon of the pair came up from behind him ominously.

"Phoebe," the Seer said, looking at the witch.

"Cole," Phoebe whispered.

The athame had grown white in color, a shard of light the demon gripped in his hand. Pieces of his flesh burned away, just from gripping it. His eyes flashed red, and he yanked backwards again on Cole's hair, driving the dagger into his chest.

"Phoebe!" Cole screamed.


	9. Chapter 9

Smartie4va: Glad you like it. Here is more

Hellstorm

Chapter 9: The Storm (Part II)

Kaia had always felt a step removed from her peers and contemporaries, even her superiors. None had her drive, her ambition. Few even could match her tactics and cunning. As Cole howled in agony, his death throws made her grin; it was a resounding punctuation at the end of her dissertation on how one could climb to the top. She scarcely noticed the struggle that broke out near the shield between her minions, so focused was she on the moment.

But when she did, it was as if she were noticing ants crawling all around her. First there was one, then another, then a half dozen. Turning her gaze, she watched the Seer and the Charmed Ones scurry away from the nearest side of the field. Then she watched one of the demons orb, orb?, orb out of the grasp of another, and Paige, the younger Halliwell sister throw something at one of the columns. Then, two men whom she had never seen before came into view, walking calmly towards the scene. Everything grew surreal, even more so as the column exploded sending her flying backwards through the air, rock and debris sailing past her head even as she sailed along also. Somewhere in the hail of stonework she could see that foolish, arrogant hooded demon and his magnificent athame, and then Kaia's vision flashed white as she impacted against a wall and fell to her knees. Footsteps strode past her and she looked up to see the two mystery guests walk by her and off into the thick cloud. Kaia clenched her teeth as she felt the acrid taste of blood worked it's way into her mouth and her body cried out as she tried to stand.

She knew she had to leave, that something had gone wrong, and that it would be smart to just leave, and sort out the details later while hoping as many of her enemies had died as possible, but pride. Pride demanded she salvage something from the situation. After all, she was a step removed, a step beyond.

Piper rolled a piece of table off of her, thinking to herself a really smart idea would've been to have moved the table and the heavy chairs before hand. She tried to breathe and coughed, inhaling and choking.

"Paige," she wheezed. "Phoebe," she tried her voice again. Familiar hands begged her to stay still, and she searched for his face in the cloud. "Leo," she said.

"Piper," he shushed her, and there was a yellow tinge to their immediate pocket of the room as he healed her. She tugged at his shirt and brought him into a hug.

"I thought we weren't going to make it out of this one," she said holding him. He kissed her neck.

"Nah," he said, unconfidently. "we've had much worse than this," she couldn't help but laugh, then gasped.

"Phoebe,"

"Paige," Leo said, reaching out, responding to someone crawling on their hands and knees through the fog. Paige collapsed into Pipe's lap, bruised with a few cuts, but other wise fine.

"Heal her," Piper, said, struggling to stand up.

She found him near one of the entrances to the room, the explosion having blown him a few paces from where she'd saw him kneel. She pulled him into her lap, ignoring the sharp pain in her legs and arms.

"Cole," she whispered, finding all of the old impulses, feelings having returned to her so quickly. "Cole, wake up," she brought a quivering hand up to his forehead. His eyes weren't open, and she couldn't feel his chest rising and falling. "Oh please god Cole," she grasped at him, holding his limp body in a tight hug. "Leo," she screamed hoarsely. Her brother in law appeared through the settling fog more than orbed, holding Paige in his arms. She choked out a question. Leo shook his head, dropping to a knee near Cole.

"She's fine, just unconscious," he said, putting a finger to Cole's neck. "Too much trauma. He has no pulse," he said.

"Heal him," Phoebe screamed hysterically. Leo tried immediately, his power emptying into Cole, but with no visible effect. He kept his voice even and his face flat.

"Phoebe," he said calmly.

"No," she screamed. "Not after all this," she said, shaking her head, rocking him back and forth. They all heard the shuffling footsteps as the hooded demon emerged from the rubble of the room, Kaia at his side. He had a wicked scar carved into his face and his clothes were badly torn. Kaia looked similar but her posture implied that she wasn't feeling her wounds.

"Where is the athame," he asked of the family, louder than was necessary. Piper turned toward the two of them, just as Kaia leapt at her, kicking her full in the stomach. Leo jumped to his wife's aid, but Kaia dodged his attack, tripping him and holding him down. She hurled a large stone at Piper, who rose just in time to explode the stone in mid air. The hooded demon held a hand to his stomach as if trying to keep a wound closed. "Last chance," he said, looking down on Phoebe, who was adjusting her position, ready to levitate out of the way. Suddenly, Cole's eyes popped open, two bright blue points in the dissipating fog, he sat him quickly, staring up at the hooded demon. "Oh, marvelous, I get to kill you twice today," he said.

"No," Cole heard Phoebe scream behind him, but he was already in motion, diving angrily at the demon. The energy ball struck him in the chest, and he stood up, unscathed. The hooded demon stared in disbelief, along with Phoebe. He attempted to conjure another energy ball, surprised to find he could not. Cole gestured and a sphere of malevolent force sprung to life, spinning dangerously in his palm.

"How?" the demon screamed.

"You shouldn't whine," Cole sneered. "It's unbecoming," and hurled the energy back to its sender. The demon exploded. Cole turned slowly to stare down at Phoebe. Her large brown eyes swallowed him again and he stumbled forward, and then backwards, suddenly unsure.

"Phoebe," he breathed.

"Cole," she whispered, a tear running down her cheek. Piper screaming cut off the reunion as they both looked over to watch Kaia flip Leo in Piper's direction, who wasn't fast enough to avoid her husband landing on her. Kaia began to surge forward to continue her onslaught then stumbled, fatigued. She looked around her to find herself alone. Coughing brought her to a large piece of wood as it stirred, revealing the Seer, who retained her regal mystery despite being covered in dirt and dust. Kaia screamed, exasperated, but realized at the last moment that the distraction had cost her everything as she watched Piper pop to her feet out of the corner of her eye.

She screamed as she exploded, thinking until the very end that she was different, better, than the average demon. Piper directed her attention to the Seer, who had not moved. She grinned that knowing smile of hers.

"You're welcome," she said, and then disappeared. Piper's jaw dropped open and she stepped out of the tangle with her husband, angrily towards where the old woman had been standing.

"What did she say," she fumed. "why that no good rotten, I'm going to,"

"Piper," Leo caught her from behind, restraining her. "Piper, it's over," he said, looking around, to make sure he wasn't telling lies. He kissed the top of her head and she swiveled in his grip, making a face at him.

Phoebe watched the lovers play fight briefly before looking back at Cole, who had scarcely taken his gaze from her. She felt the push of her rational and emotional selves enter from the back of her mind, impacting her action, and she ignored them. She picked her way carefully but directly and grabbed the front of his shirt in two tiny fists and looked up into his confused face, searching his eyes. He was filled with indecision; he knew, he remembered what she had said, what she had been saying for so long. He wanted to, but he couldn't. Phoebe pulled him down into a lingering kiss, embracing what felt right, and ignoring everything else. Eventually, she felt his arms sweep around her, and it was natural and all encompassing like the end of a long day.

It was like coming home.

From the floor, Paige groaned, opening her eyes, looking around. "Man, what happened?"

The Seer washed her hands thoroughly but gently, taking her time with the procedure. She was smiling more than usual, but then, it wasn't typical that a plan would come together so well, especially with so many unforeseen variables. She was especially happy to note that at the end of it all she was alive, and Kaia was not. She heard metal clang on a wooden surface behind her. She turned to see two men standing before her, though her seeing eyes revealed that they were not just men.

"And what would you want?" she asked, cryptically.

"Where is the athame?" one of them asked, his beady eyes angry. His eyes implicated that the one he had tossed on the table was not the one they sought. The Seer shrugged.

"Perhaps you should have gone to a Finder, and not a Seer," she replied, staring them down. The one in front straightened his back.

"Defiant, you people with your petty squabbles will never understand. Fine," he said, taking a step back. "Whatever you have planned will not work, no matter what you see," he said, and two of them vanished. The Seer simply took a moment to smile knowingly at no one in particular, then went back to washing her hands. After all, she had just begun her work; there was much to be done.


	10. Chapter 10

Joleca: Glad you're enjoying it

Cherrylilly: Stoic congratulations; I can dig it.

Movieholic: Surely you can't blame me for making you not do your homework. I've been there, when you don't want to, distractions come easy.

A/N: Anybody ever pick a really stupid title for a story and then come to realize, and regret it later? Sigh. Anyway, here is more.

Hellstorm

Chapter 10: Early Morning Showers

It was typical for people so close to hide things from one another, but it was equally typical for their hiding to become obvious. Despite this common situation, Leo hoped that no one noticed his asking Paige to orb them all back to the manor; the first stage of his plan had worked, too. Paige, who had just woken up, was either refreshed enough, or confused enough to accent without asking. Mostly it was wishful thinking that made him not look directly at his wife, who he knew had one of her eye brows cocked. Phoebe and Cole were Phoebe and Cole: they only had eyes for each other, but they had some serious talking to do. Idly he wondered if maybe there were magical beings wise enough with time enough for magical couples therapy.

The manor was as they had left it, sans one crying baby. Leo watched Piper separate from him and stumble to the stairs, his maternal instincts kicking in.

"Oh, look at the time," she began her voice dying as she moved up the stairs, talking to no one in particular. "how long have we been gone, Wyatt's probably hungry," Leo watched him go, weighing his options. He silently monitored the cause of his own aches and bruises, scanning the rest of the group. Paige looked down finally at her ruined outfit, rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Man, look at this shirt," she slowly swept pieces of debris from it. "I just got this shirt," behind her Cole and Phoebe had yet to separate, her hands moving up and down his chest, like she was afraid he'd vanish at any second and all of this would be gone. Leo knew the fleeting sensation she was experiencing. He concentrated. Nothing. He put his head down, waiting for this nice moment to evaporate. 3. 2. 1.

"Leo!" Piper called from upstairs. Everyone turned their attention to a frantic Piper, holding Wyatt's blanket in a clenched fist. "Where is our son?" she asked, walking quickly into the kitchen.

"I took him to Victor's before," he let the sentence trail off hoping she would get it. Her mouth formed a small ring; before she said her next statement he put his hands over his face.

"Well, go get him," she said, and began to turn around. He whispered something he hoped she would dismiss, instead "what? What did you say?" she asked, removing his hands from his face.

"I said I can't," he explained. "I can't orb, or heal, or anything, I don't know what the problem is," he stopped, looking down at his feet. "I've been trying to figure it out, I don't know what happened."

The Seer looked on as the warlock carefully poured the orange powder into a small bowl, then carefully placed the bowl among others with other, differently colored powders.

"This has a very low chance of working the way you want it to," the warlock said over his shoulder, calculating in his mind.

"I know," the Seer retorted, stepping around the table. "However your statement carries with it the implication that with more trials, there will be less error," the warlock considered the small woman before him, his adoration growing suddenly in leaps and bounds. He grinned.

"You know, I'd heard about your predecessor," he said, exchanging one bowl for another so that the powders followed the color spectrum, then reversed his decision. "And I thought she was terribly clever, but I think maybe you," he looked up into her steady gaze. "You almost scare me," then he stepped across the room to check on cauldron, the water inside exuding heat but not boiling. The Seer stared at his back, taking on a faraway look for a moment.

"I suppose it is good for many to think you clever," she spoke cryptically. "But ultimately the better judgment is not how many people knew you to be cunning, but how many did not," she said finally. For just a moment, she allowed herself to be pulled into the river of her premonition power, to glance at things to come. She grinned widely.

Phoebe met Leo's eyes as they retraced their steps. It was the first time she had torn her attention away from Cole in what felt like hours, but she knew what was coming, and although he still held her, and she him, Phoebe began to steel herself against the impact.

"The last time my powers worked was when," Leo paused, his long explanation slowed. "I healed Cole," he finished, cringing and trying to hide the reaction. Paige, her head laying on the kitchen counter picked it up slowly, staring across the room at Cole. Piper controlled herself, swallowing and putting her hands together. It was visibly difficult, but Cole removed himself from the tangle with Phoebe.

"Ok," Piper said, hoping everyone would stop moving. "Ok, so," she looked, almost timidly up into Cole's face. "Before we jump to any sort of conclusion, do you have any explanation for this?" she asked, hopefully she realized. Cole was struck with a pervading sense of dread, and it showed on his face. He shook his head.

"No," he said, finally letting go of Phoebe's hand and passing it through his hair. "None of the powers I harvested,"

"Harvested?" Paige chirped. Piper flailed her arms angrily, shushing her sister.

"None the powers I had could drain someone else's," he finished, concentrating on Piper, who nodded slowly.

"Ok, had," she began. "had is good. Explain had," she thought suddenly. He gestured with a hand, and nothing happened.

"I don't have them any more," he said, putting both hands at his belt. "Or any, as far as I'm aware. I feel," he paused, as if searching for the word. They all waited except for Phoebe, who knew that he had the word he sought; he just didn't want to say it. When you say something, it makes it more real, she thought. "empty," he finished. Leo stiffened as if struck in the back of the head. Piper wheeled on him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, frantic suddenly that something else could be going wrong.

"They're calling me," Leo said quizzically, then a smile spread across his face. "They're called me!" he jumped up and down. Piper paused, confused. "I can hear them," he explained, then orbed across the kitchen and then back again. Piped grinned at him, sharing in her husband's joyful moment.

"I don't understand," she kept smiling, however. Leo put his hands on his wife's shoulders.

"Neither do I, but while I'm up there, I'll be sure to ask," he kissed her on the forehead. "And on the way back I'll stop and pick up Wyatt," and with that he was gone.

"Well, that's good," Paige said, this time not bothering to pick her face up from the counter. "because for a second there I was having some déjà vu, you know, from when," Piper had moved to her baby sister and helped her up.

"Ok, you need some sleep, up you go," Piper mentioned, half supporting her sister towards the stairs. Over Piper's shoulder she shared a look with Phoebe over which much was conveyed. Ultimately, Phoebe realized it was her choice what happened next, that tomorrow was a new day, and that she'd have sisters to support her in whatever she decided. It was a long, slow trudge up the stairs with Paige gradually helping less and less, but eventually, Phoebe and Cole were in the kitchen alone, a pace apart.

In her mind Phoebe had already said half a dozen things that weren't what she wanted to say. They were distractions, or deflections, or stalls. All of them pointed to the fact that she was afraid, and the clarity of the past few months, of that fear, gave her courage. She unconsciously straightened her pants and smoothed her hair. Phoebe's hand brushed up against her purse, which she was surprised was still in tact, along with the rigid card stock inside. She slowly pulled the letter out. Cole's eyes riveted to her hands, and he knew where from she had retrieved it.

"I," she began, testing her voice. She swallowed, trying again. "I haven't gotten a chance to read this," she said, handing it to him, more confidently. "I figured though, that since you wrote it when you thought you had lived your last day, that maybe you wanted to change some things," her eyes met his, questioning. He shook his head.

"Everything in there I meant," he replied, meeting the letter with his hand, but not taking it. "I still do," she brought it back and held it in both hands, nodding quickly.

"Ok,"

"I'm sorry, Phoebe," he said, taking a tentative step towards her. "For putting you and your sisters in danger. That wasn't my intention," she nodded, at first looking away and then staring him directly in the face.

"I know," she said "I'm sorry for leaving you alone. I," she clenched her jaw and willed the tears not to come. "realize you were fighting for us, and you were fighting by yourself. It was so much… easier,"

"To hate me," he finished for her, taking another step. She put a hand against his chest, closing her eyes for a moment, feeling his heartbeat.

"No," she said. "I need to say it," she opened her eyes again, looking up into his. "You have saved us, so many times, and you almost died so many times. I hated you," she pulled up his shirt in her fist. "I hated you for almost leaving me. I hated you for coming back when I thought you were dead. I hated you for not letting me," she started crying, but kept her voice even "for not leaving me alone to hate you, for fighting. And," she breathed, feeling everything all over again "for being you. For making it so hard. It wasn't fair, and I needed to blame someone, be angry at someone," she stared up at him "but it shouldn't have been you. It shouldn't have been you. Everything was so hard, but it was the easiest thing to do," she felt her vision blur as the tears came, full on this time, a deluge that sapped her strength and left her drained. Her knees buckled, but she knew; she knew he'd never let her fall, but Phoebe couldn't say converse was true. After all, hadn't she. Voices came to her, near and far, familiar and otherwise, enemies and friends. So many had had their hand in their relationship, and it had been rare for her to stand by him, with him, and not falter.

The dense nugget of pain though had began to crack, chip, and wear, and she smiled on the inside, feeling that just outside of it were his strong arms. Earlier she had held him the same way, but only after she thought it was too late. Eventually she heard his cooing, his quiet confident voice, telling her he wouldn't let anything happen to her, that he'd die first. But that was the one thing she did know; everything else up in the air, swirling about on a breeze she couldn't control. And how she wished she could control it. Why did she have to fight so hard for what she wanted? Phoebe had the answer, had the answers to most of her questions, but they were never the ones she wanted to hear.

"There," the warlock said, wiping beads of sweat from his face. "Certainly doesn't look like much,"

"Appearances are not my concern," the Seer looked into the cauldron, watching the powders and colors mix and transmute into an image. The Seer brought her hands very near to the water, and the mixture, responding to her magic, became clearer, and more lifelike, resembling more a photograph floating on water. Suddenly the image turned black and white, the figure staring directly at the two them with hard eyes. "I see numbers," the Seer intoned. "All in a line, and bars," she paused. "Imprisonment. Yes," she ceased her concentration. "He will do," she turned away suddenly.

"Good," the warlock said, abandoning the cauldron as well. "and my reward," the Seer looked over her shoulder at him.

"You wish to know your future," the Seer recalled, the warlock nodded. "You will be apart of a grand dynasty, greater than the line of sources. With your help, the forces of good with quake in terror," the warlock stepped closer to the Seer, his eyes flashing.

"I need specifics," he began then gasped as an athame pierced his stomach. He dropped to his knees slowly, not only dying but feeling his energies being sucked through the wound.

"Specifically," the Seer whispered to the warlock, now eye level. "you will be apart of a grand design, but you will not be alive to see it come to fruition," she said, finally, watching the color leave his face, then removing the athame. The seer looked around before cleaning the weapon and replacing it within her robes, then teleported away.


	11. Chapter 11

CherryLilly: Danke

Movieholic: Thanks, I'll keep that in mind; I was trying to use a double enter strike to denote that

Hellstorm

Chapter 11: Red Skies

"You ever seen a case thrown at in the middle of an arraignment?" Darryl was shaken from his thoughts.

"What?"

"Nothing," the suited man said, shaking his head. "This is bogus, but, what can you do?"

"Good question," Darryl replied, watching the retreating back of the two men, one answering questions for the press and gesturing angrily back in the direction of the court house, the other simply walking, a smooth, determined grace.

"Hey," the man commanded Darryl's attention again. "He'll slip up, and we'll nab him, and this time, we'll make it stick. I mean, unless he's got a guardian angel or something, right?" Darryl nodded, suddenly getting a very bad feeling.

"Right."

Phoebe stirred from a coma like sleep, her mouth conforming to the shape of a scream. She searched her thoughts, wondering if there was a place on her body that didn't hurt. Since sitting up didn't work, she tried rolling over onto her side, meeting the sideways pillows fluffed and placed against her side. She remembered his words. I'm not going anywhere. An unconscious smile split her face as she rolled off her bed, sore but suddenly energized. Fatigue was one of the myriad of things that could cause people to make bad decisions, or at least decisions they wouldn't normally make, but for once Phoebe had sidestepped what could have been calamity. Cole had stayed in the manor, of course, but he had done so downstairs in the living room. He didn't have a car to drive back in, and Phoebe was too tired to drive him back to his place. She had had the hours long conversation with him on fumes, never mind that the drive there and back was at most 25 minutes. She stood in the middle of her room, contemplating throwing on clothes and going downstairs or showering first. Phoebe glanced at the clock. 10:37. Ok, maybe she should shower then go to work, or maybe shower then call in sick. She tested a cough. She sounded sick.

Piper rolled onto her back, elbowing Leo in the face, which woke him up.

"Hey, ow," he said, rubbing his nose. Piper feigned a yawn.

"Oh, hey," she said sleepily. "when did you get back," she said, flashing her eyes at him. "this morning," she finished, rolling back onto her side again. He followed suit, clinging to her, chuckling in her ear.

"I'm sorry, honey," Piper's ferociousness had become an endearing trait. "They kept me longer than expected,"

"Not the first time that's happened," she said, accepting his hand around her waist, rubbing her hand along his forearm. "Everything's alright?" she asked, suddenly curious. He snuggled his face against the nape of her neck. He said replied but it was muffled.

"Leo," Piper said.

"I love you,"

"Leo," Piper repeated.

"I should probably wait so I can tell you three all at once," Piper rolled over completely to face him.

"You've got to stop doing that," she demanded.

"What?"

"Keeping things from me," she replied. The look on his face stopped her tirade cold. He brought a hand up and tenderly stroked her cheek. "What's wrong?" Leo shook his head, an odd gesture while laying on his side.

"I was in the attic with Cole," he started. Odd way to start, Piper thought. "And I'd never realized, really, how much of a wreck he is without her. How much of a wreck I'd be," Piper shushed him with a finger. He kissed it, closing his eyes for a moment. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered.

Paige inched over again for the countless time that morning, except this time there was no more bed to hold her and in her retreat from the sunlight's slow crawl across her bed, she tumbled into the floor. She swore loudly, then again when she rediscovered her unhealed bruises. She sat up yawning, looking at her clock, her eyes snapping open. "Crap," she said.

A rapid 14 minutes later she was hopping into a pair of boots towards the stairwell, speaking into her cell phone. "Yeah I know what time it is," she said, finally get the boot on then started downstairs, switching the phone to her other ear. "I'm sorry, yesterday, well last night, and this morning actually, it was just really rough and long and rough," she said, messing with her bangs in the hallway mirror. "Yes of course I'm serious about my job, you know I am," she walked through the living room towards the kitchen, stopping only momentarily to look down on a still sleeping Cole. "Look, I'm walking out the door right now, how many times can I say I'm sorry, I'll see you in ten," she said, hanging up the phone and opening the fridge door, making her decision quickly, stuffing a bagel and a yogurt into her purse and shaking the orange juice carton, shrugging and taking it with her.

On her way back through the living room she saw that Cole had sat up, all of him exposed except for whatever the blanket was covering.

"Yuck," she said, moving by quickly. "Why don't you cover that up, buddy," the next thing Cole heard, as he was sifting through the sensations of just waking was the manor door close. Cole rubbed his face, looking around suddenly. He stood up, draping the blanket over himself, feeling cold suddenly. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and drifted that way, his heart picking up speed as he thought it might be Phoebe. He paused when he saw it was Piper and Leo.

"Uh," Piper said awkwardly, gesturing towards the front door. "Paige?" she asked. Cole nodded.

"She was talking to someone," he said, searching his recent memory. "On a cell phone, what time is it?" he asked, glancing at the hall clock. Piper leaned over the banister a bit.

"Oh, that doesn't work," she said, coming down stairs. "It's around 11, right sweetie?" she asked of Leo, who came downstairs and stood next to his wife. The two of them resembled a rickety wall, barring entrance. Cole looked down at himself, then shook his head.

"Oh, no, I was on my way to the kitchen," Piper stepped forward, holding her hands up.

"Look, Cole," she said, indecision on her face. "I love Phoebe, and I know, you do, too, no matter how it seems," she said, glancing at Leo. "And, she is an adult. Her decisions are her own; it my responsibility to stand by her and support her and to help her, as her sister. So," she made her mind up. "would you like to join us for breakfast, afterwards," she said quickly "you can help us figure out what happened to you, and to Leo," she waited for him to nod before she continued on to the kitchen, leaving Leo grinning like an idiot on the stairs. He nodded awkwardly at Cole before walking behind his wife.

Cole frowned, wondering where his clothes had gone.

The man slammed the door behind him, tearing off his suit and tie as if they were choking him, binding him. The jacket was an easy affair but the tie only seemed to tighten the more he struggled with it, but eventually it, too was discarded on the floor. He stalked over to his television and flipped it on, slowly spinning the dial as he cycled through the channels. There was nothing about his case on any of the channels, which made him smile, a genuine one, much like the one he'd had in the court room when the judge had thrown out the case. Lack of evidence.

"They will catch you again," the voice said from behind him. He spun around angrily to face the voice, however the kitchen knife in his hand was unexpected. He glanced at the door, which was still closed. The woman smirked. "And you know they will. You're worried, even now, that the police are surrounding this building, that they found something you left behind, something careless," she stepped forward, her hands hidden in the folds of her odd dress. "After all, half the time you didn't feel like yourself, didn't feel like you were in control,"

"Who are you," he didn't know why this woman terrified him so. He didn't know how she had gotten into his apartment, but she also looked practically harmless. "How'd you get in here,"

"I am someone who wants to help you," she said, sliding into a chair at his kitchen table. "And I came because you called. You needed help in the court room, did you not? You need help now, do you not?" she asked. He heard the knife in his hand clang to the floor and looked down at it, his wide fearful eyes reflecting off the blade. "There is something inside of you that requires nourishment," the woman whispered to him. Her voice seemed to come from the inside of his mind. "When you feed it, you are allowed peace, to sleep, to dream, and when you ignore it, what happens?" He gripped the counter top behind him to prevent his hands from shaking. "What happens, Benjamin?" she asked.

"How'd you know my name," he asked the woman, but her eyes gave him the answer before he'd asked. He watched her place an oddly shaped dagger on the table, it's blade twisted and curving, the blade tinged dark red. Her hand left it idle on the table and it disappeared back within her robes.

"It must be fed, or it will consume you," she said, rising from the table. Benjamin swallowed. His hands had stopped shaking, and he felt a sideways sort of focus come over him, like he was just a hair removed from everything and everyone. With it came relief, and a fiery joy that made his body warm. He smiled, and the strange woman returned it, silently watching him as he picked up the dagger in his hands and introduced it's angles to his hands. It made him feel good. Safe. Invincible. A laugh escaped him. He looked back at the woman, but she was gone. He laughed again, this time long and hard. Benjamin laughed until he was hoarse, then he changed clothes, the anticipation of going out that night made his blood sing and his skin dance. He couldn't stop smiling.


	12. Chapter 12

CherryLilly: You have restored my faith in titling stories at 2 am.

Hellstorm

Chapter 12: Cloudy Horizon

Phoebe had scrubbed herself clean. First-date clean, she realized as she contemplating fixing her hair. Ultimately, she had decided to go with a pony tail and comfortable clothes after calling Elise and telling practicing her sick voice for future occasions. She smiled her way into a kitchen scene with awkward tension so thick it was palpable. Piper and Leo were on one side of the long family table eating pleasantly, saying nothing, smiling their way through something Piper must have whipped up, a combination of new food and leftovers from the day before. Cole in some of Leo's hand-me-downs, Phoebe noticed, doing the same on his side, most of his time spent staring down into his plate. He looked up and instantly brightened at her entrance, and reflexively she did the same, her gaze slipping away from his face to the somewhat form fitting shirt. Cole was a bit more muscular than Leo and it showed at the shoulder, chest, and arms. She stepped forward and Cole bolted out of his chair to help her into hers; across the table she noticed Leo and Piper assumed a modicum of normalcy, sharing a look between one another. The sisters mouthed a silent thank you to one another. She whispered a hello over her shoulder at Cole, giggling at how ridiculous he looked in one of Leo's undershirts and jeans.

"This is pretty tasty, Piper," Phoebe said taking a bite, attempting to stir up conversation.

"You don't have to lie, Phoebe," Leo said, taking the bait. Piper, awkwardness or no, was not about to let that pass and swatted her husband with a napkin. Leo surrendered. "I mean, yeah you do," he said, eliciting another sharp look. Cole chuckled, scooping a spoonful of, whatever it was, into his mouth.

"And what about you, Cole," Piper asked. He could feel Phoebe's stare. He swallowed, before bringing his eyes up.

"I'm just happy to be invited," he said genuinely. Piper stared forward, not expecting the sincerity to cut through the scene so thoroughly. Phoebe cleared her throat.

"Hey where's Paige?" she asked.

"She left about an hour ago," Cole responded, adding "I was awake when she stormed through the living room yelling on her cell phone," he gestured behind him in the direction of where he had spent the night.

"I'm sorry about that," Phoebe began. Cole's mouth widened into a smile, and Phoebe could see his soul in his blue eyes.

"Don't apologize for that," he said, scrapping his plate clean. "Was the best night's sleep I've had in months," he stood, carrying his plate to the sink. Phoebe watched him go, and Piper and Leo watched Phoebe take in Cole's entire form. Leo put his hand on Piper's and squeezed it gently; she returned the gesture.

"You should finish that Phoebe," Piper said offhandedly. "Cole said he'd help us try and figure out if there's something wrong with Leo's powers," standing and turning towards the sink. Phoebe frowned in thought.

"You think Cole has something to do with it," Phoebe said, taking care to keep her tone even. Cole saw the look on Piper's face.

"There's nothing to say that I didn't," he said, turning towards the table. Phoebe looked from Cole to Piper, deciding to drop it and eat. The situation diffused, Piper washed her dish thoroughly before giving Cole a look of thanks. They both thought it had been too long since that happened.

Paige frantically multi-tasked, playing catch up through her lunch hour. Social workers were already at a disadvantage; there were too many people to serve and not enough servants. They were underpaid and understaffed and in many cases under appreciated. Still, Paige kept in mind the brief feeling of joy when she did pull off a miracle, that is, without her powers. She hung up the phone, staring at the blinking lights identifying that there were two other people still on hold and sighed, her neck beginning to knot up. She checked her watch and thought for a minute, memory nagging at her. Spinning in her chair rapidly she fished for the full size calendar she kept on her desk.

Once she did unearth it, she saw the date clearly circled in two different colors: sitting at her desk with two people on call she was ten minutes late for a court date. Paige leaned forward and clicked the button that would send all her calls into voicemail and ran from her desk, headed for the front of the building, sliding to a stop suddenly, then ducked into a bathroom.

She smiled to herself in the mirror of the courthouse, smoothing her hair down and checking her watch. She opened the door and stepped into the hallway, directly into Darryl.

"Woah, lady," Darryl began, looking down into the red head's eyes. "Paige?" he asked.

"Darryl," she said, looking back and forth. "Hey," and then began walking towards the court room. She stopped again at the sound of her voice.

"I need to talk to you," he said, flipping through manila folders in his hands.

"Oh yeah, sure," Paige said. "but can we walk and talk, I'm sort of in a hurry," Darryl nodded, hurrying after her.

Phoebe sat on the bottom of the basement stairs, still sorting out her feelings about this whole 'test out Leo's powers' thing with Cole. That was a rule she had come upon during her shower: to deal with her feelings when she had them, no matter what they were. Maybe not voice them, but she promised herself she'd at least analyze them instead of locking them away. And even though Leo's powers were inherently passive, and weren't designed for harm, she had to admit to herself that she didn't want Cole around any more magic, however, she was willing to compromise if it was good magic. Good, passive magic.

She watched her sister, Leo and Cole standing in a triangle trying to figure out what happened.

"Ok," Piper began. "Do what you did last time, heal him," she said, pointing at Cole. Leo stepped forward, his hands in front of him.

"But I'm not injured, " Cole interjected, frowning.

"Well," Piper thought. "We could always,"

"No," Phoebe said, more loudly than she had intended from her seat, which had turned into a standing position, also inadvertently. Everyone looked askance at her, Piper raising an eyebrow. "I mean," Phoebe began again, then realized she had nothing.

"It's ok, Pheebs," Piper said calmingly. "We just got him back. We're not going to blow him up," she smiled at her sister, and at Cole.

"Still," Leo said. "Cole does have a point, however I'm not advocating harming him either," he said quickly. Cole smirked.

"How about we just test it, I'm sorry for saying anything," he chided them. Piper nodded, and Leo stepped forward, his hands beginning to glow with golden light. At first nothing happened, and Leo began to shake his head, then Cole held up a hand.

"Wait, keep trying," he said and then concentrated. Leo gasped suddenly as the light disappeared.

"What did you do?" the white lighter asked, his face incredulous. Cole raised his hands as Phoebe stared between the two of them. Golden light spurted and then swelled in Cole's palms.

"How in the," Piper began.

"Cole," Phoebe stepped forward, remembering the last moments with the robed demon back in the underworld. The light died in Cole's hands.

"I think I figured it out," he said.

"Well would you care sharing," Piper said, putting a hand on her husbands back, who looked flushed.

"Well," Cole began. "I picked it up when I began going back to the Wasteland to harvest demonic energies. I had this. I have this… emptiness," he said, his expression turning sad for just a moment. "And when you were trying to heal me, I tried to fill it, just like it were the ambient energy in the Wasteland," he said, staring down at his hands. "And then, it was like it opened, and sucked your power in," he closed his fist.

"Well," Piper said, her eyes a bit wider than she intended. "does it work in reverse maybe?" she suggested. Cole took a step backwards and tensed his body. Leo gasped again as energy flowed from Cole's hands. Leo blinked.

"I guess it does," Phoebe said, going to stand next to Cole. Her eyes went from the top of his head to his feet, searching for anything amiss. "When you were," she paused, reaching out to touch his arm, almost as if to make sure he was still real. "when he tried to heal you, you must've done it on accident," she said, looking up into his eyes. Cole looked down at her, meeting her gaze.

"But how?" Leo asked. "I've never heard of any witch, or," he paused. "I've never heard of that power,"

"He's not a demon," Phoebe said, still holding Cole's gaze. "When Belthazor was vanquished it left a void in Cole, the same emptiness the Seer used to possess Cole with the source," her eyes didn't tear and she was thankful for that. "It must've been with you for so long, and you must've been using it, so now it's become part of you," Cole looked down, chuckling sardonically.

"I have a big hole that won't go away," Cole felt her hand reach up and lift his chin.

"We'll work on filling it," she said, smiling. Piper opened her mouth, knowing she was going to regret what she was about to say.

"So, should we try it with more," she edited herself. "active powers?"

Paige stood sadly, watching her client walk to the rear of the court towards the jail. She wiped a tear away from her cheek, sniffling, motioning for Darryl to follow her.

"Ok, what were you saying earlier?" she asked, once they were in the hallway. Darryl bit his lip.

"Actually, the folder must be in my car," he looked into Paige's face. "this could maybe wait if,"

"No," she said. "I know it has to be important as frantic as you were. Let's," she gestured towards the parking lot. Darryl walked quickly, thankful.

"Thank you," he began, holding the door open. "This case is sort of weird. Nothing completely unexplainable, just hard to crack, and up until this morning I thought they were for cop reasons, but then," Paige nodded, walking down the steps after Darryl.

"Who is it,"

"Perp's name is Benjamin Baddock, multiple priors, in and out of the system for about a decade. They start at public indecency and get worse, all the way up to attempted rape, and then murder he was connected to but," Darryl, furrowed his brow, digging in his pocket for his keys. "The judge threw his arraignment out this morning for lack of evidence.

"He was going away?" Paige asked, thoughtfully. Nothing thus far sounded demonic or magical.

"It wasn't air tight, but it was tight enough for any average D.A. not to screw up," he said, reaching in and taking out the appropriate folder. "certainly there was more there to prevent the case from getting thrown out," Paige accepted the folder and began flipping through it.

"Well it looks," Paige began when Darryl's radio screamed to life. Assault reported near Lower Central Junior High School. Darryl's eyes widened at the description of the assailant and Paige's as well, staring at a picture of the man in the folder. Darryl ran around to the driver's seat, starting the engine.

"Close the door," he yelled, which she did after she had gotten inside. "Paige, I,"

"Just drive!" Darryl shifted into drive and accelerated rather than argue.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I think this will be the last chapter. I believe I may start another story (a continuance of this one), however I'm not in a huge rush to do so. For those of you who did read, and were so kind enough to review, I'd appreciate your feedback.

Hellstorm

Chapter 13: Category 5

"This is not a good idea," Phoebe heard herself say, and inwardly she was instantly frustrated. What she had wanted to say was 'I don't want you to blow up Cole.' Fortunately, the sisterly bond was enough, or maybe just a facial expression.

"I'm not going to blow him," Piper said, trying to shoo her sister and husband out of the way. "on purpose," she added under her breath. Leo also seemed against the plan, though probably not as much against it as Phoebe was, but still he was in the way.

"He doesn't seem to have powers of his own," Leo began, glancing over his shoulder. "Per se, if you execute wrong," his voice trailed off, tactfully leaving out 'there will be pieces of him all over the basement,' however he did grimace.

"I'm not going to blow him up," Piper repeated, growing defensive. "I'll just use my freezing power," she gestured at Phoebe. "Look, we could use one of your powers, but I don't think levitation would work that way,"

"It's fine," Cole said, and was a little surprised when Phoebe spun on him, staring him in the face, incredulously. He wasn't sure if he couldn't read her because she was suddenly so inscrutable, or if there was just too much to read. Emotion played all over her face. "Ok, maybe it's not fine," he smiled at her, then thought for a moment. "I do have another idea, however."

Paige fastened her seat belt, as her narrow frame slide across the seat towards the window. She thought to say something to Darryl but he seemed to be using his full concentration not to kill them. The police siren signaled their coming to cars blocks ahead and still at the speed he was driving Darryl had to avoid cars. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his jaw clenched as he just narrowly missed another car and another. Paige knew a little about police officers, patrol men and detectives and such like Darryl, being a social worker, but it was never in the capacity where they were doing anything besides making phone calls, pointing guns at people, or testifying in court. She had read somewhere, though, about the strenuous testing and physical rigor they underwent. A small scream escaped her as they whipped around a corner, shooting through a side alley, the car leaving the ground for just a minute. She reached over and grabbed the excess of his jacket, confident at any moment she would have to orb them both to safety before the car did one of those movie stunts where it flipped upside down and exploded. They shot out of the alley like a bullet from a gun, swerving again, just narrowly avoiding a dump truck. Next time she promised to hear Darryl out when he objected to something.

Piper had lost control of the situation when she realized Leo was on board with Phoebe's idea. A small part of her had to accept that if Cole accented to her using her power on him, with the small chance of him being killed, then she had to accept Phoebe's plan: she had lost her powers before and it hadn't killed her, therefore the plan was practically 100 safe.

"He's already proven that he can," Leo glanced at Cole "and will, give them right back, we just want to see if it works," he assured her. Phoebe looked into her sister's face, not needing to say anything more. Piper hung her head in defeat.

"Ok, fine," she said, cutting her eyes in mock anger at Cole. "Steal my powers," she said, hesitantly holding out an arm, unsure how the process worked. Cole took a step backwards, and then another.

"What," Leo began. Cole held up a quieting hand.

"It wouldn't be a useful power if I had to thumb wrestle the person first," he said, pausing and then taking another step back. "Besides, I never had to work this hard before, it was sort of like magnetism, after a while they just came to me, I hardly had to try," and he tensed again, opening himself, and focusing on Piper. He reached a hand forward and at first nothing happened, then Piper gasped, staggering against Leo. Cole looked down at his hand, opening and closing it. "I guess it works even when the power isn't in use. That will come in handy," he commented, holding up a palm, pushing Piper's power forward out of himself, back to its source. Phoebe waited for the transition to complete itself before walking over to Cole.

"What?" she questioned. "What do you mean handy," it had been awhile since he had had someone concerned enough about him to pick up on every little thing he quipped. Actually, he realized, the last person was the person standing in front of him. He fidgeted like a mouse whose tail was caught in a trap.

"Well, I mean, I want to be able to help," he said, which wasn't completely a lie. Phoebe looked into his eyes.

"Cole," she said. "you have to stop, you don't realize what you were doing," he frowned at her reaction.

"But I was doing it for you. For us. If there isn't any more evil,"

"There will always be evil, Cole," Leo said, still holding onto Piper. "It's how it works, this world is the middle ground between the extremes of free will, between alternatives," Cole blinked, confused.

"But it was working, wasn't it?" Phoebe looked down at his chest, smoothing out a wrinkle.

"We're not sure. You did something, we're not exactly sure what, but," she said, looking up into his blue eyes, marshalling her strength. "we just know it will always be a struggle for the things we want most. We just have to fight, together," she smiled, hoping to infect him with her confidence. He held onto her, rubbing her back and returning her smile with one of his own. "Right?" she asked, looking over at Piper and Leo, holding onto one another.

"Right," Piper nodded, to both of them. Piper knew Cole reasonably well, too, and the smile had faded into the faraway look of planning and calculation. She didn't let it scare her, though. She tried, anyway.

Darryl stomped on the brake, yelling into the radio. He reported his car number, and that he had arrived on the scene. Paige stumbled out of the car, her knees still a bit wobbly. She heard Darryl exit the car, and then run off ahead of them. She watched him go, a curse forming in her throat.

"Wait," she said, beginning to job much more slowly. "dammit," She saw Darryl round a corner just ahead of her. By the time she got to it, he was turning another. She had heard on the radio that there was a school but presently she was having a foot chase with Darryl through a self storage facility. Orange sheet metal boxes and cubes were everywhere, and it quickly turned into Paige chasing the end of Darryl's coat. Fortunately though, as her legs came back to her she was picking up speed. Darryl would stop occasionally, looking back at her, then left and right at certain intersections. The look in his eyes made him seem that much more motivated. Of course, she thought, his name had been under the arresting officer on several of Benjamin's arrests. Paige understood personal stake. When she finally caught up with him all she could hear was her own panting. She opened her mouth to say something but Darryl turned toward her his eyes growing wide. He stepped around her drawing his pistol, his stance widening.

"Paige, move," he said, pointing his gun. "Freeze!" he yelled. Paige turned in time to see the crazed expression on Benjamin's face, which was tinged around the mouth with blood. He stalked closer, dressed in an overcoat that hid most of his hands. The point of a knife of some type was visible however and his entire posture spoke menace. "I said freeze," Darryl repeated, taking a step back. Benjamin grinned, much widely than his typical expression; it was impossible and horrible. Then he broke into a run, closing the distance between them. Darryl adjusted his aim, shooting at Benjamin's legs. Paige looked on in shock as the bullet careened off of an invisible shield, striking one of the containers. Her eyes widened further when she got a better look at the weapon in his hands. It was an athame. It was THE athame. Darryl shot again, twice this time, the bullets bouncing off of Benjamin's chest and head. The second ricochet caught Darryl in the shoulder and he recoiled backwards from the pain, pushing Paige down with his weight, who landed hard on the ash fault. Darryl stepped forward to strike Benjamin with his gun butt, but it bounced harmlessly off of the man's head. He slashed Darryl with the blade, causing the detective to cry out, then grabbed him by the shoulder and hurling him against a nearby container. Darryl impacted with a loud thud and slid down, slowly, his gun still in hand. Paige watched Benjamin look down at her joyfully.

"It must be fed," she heard him whisper, then turned away from her. Paige jumped to her feet, holding out her hand.

"Athame," she commanded. The weapon disappeared in a cascade of blue lights and appeared in her own. Benjamin turned toward her in dismay, and Paige grinned triumphantly for only a moment. A pervading sense of wrong and sickness overtook her as the athame glowed red for a moment then her entire body screamed out in pain as she dropped the weapon and stumbled backwards, slumping against a container door. Benjamin watched the weapon come to rest on the ground, still tinged with Darryl's blood and others'. He grinned at Paige and stepped forward. A pace from the dagger a gun shot rang out, standing Benjamin straight up. He stumbled forwards, and then fell to his knees, and then onto his face. Laying sideways on the ground behind him Darryl, bleeding from a cut on his forehead, finally let the gun rest on the ground.

"Next time," he started. "you stay in the car," he trailed off into unconsciousness. Paige shoulder her pain and pushed herself into a standing position, feeling all of her muscles and joints tingle with residual pain. She stepped widely around Benjamin's body and the athame over to Darryl, who she knelt beside.

"Darryl," she said. "Darryl can you hear me?" she asked, and held out her hands to him, hoping with concentration that the iconic golden glow would come. Admittedly she hadn't practiced it much; she made a mental note to start. Movement behind her made her jump, and she turned, with less alacrity than usual, she noticed, to find the Seer standing over Benjamin's body, holding the athame. "You," she said, anger in her throat. The Seer gestured with the weapon.

"Sealed with the blood innocent, bound to the powers of 100 demons, having tasted the flesh of good, so will this weapon anoint a new era in the halls of the underworld," she smiled broadly, looking down lovingly on the blade. "Perhaps it should first be tested on you," she looked down on Paige who stared at the Seer, and then, in defeat, orbed her and Darryl away.

The Seer stared at the spot for a moment, then down at Benjamin, whom she turned over with the end of a sandaled foot. "And now, for your reward for your part in this," she said, gesturing with a hand. In the distance, clouds began to churn.


	14. Chapter 14

Pudding Chan: Thanks for reading! Certainly I will be pondering a new story to follow from this, after I start working we'll see how motivated I am. I may just go back to laying on my face…

Hellstorm: Epilogue

Paige followed the voices down into the basement despondently. When everyone saw that had ruined another outfit with Darryl's blood they ran to her, asking questions all at once. She held up a hand quickly, sighing.

"Guys, I'm fine," she said, watching them all calm. Cole, Paige noticed, was among the group coming to her aid and a chill came over her that nothing to do with the temperature.

"Well," Piper said, unsure if she should ask. "whose blood?" Paige held herself, shaking herself from the memory of the scene.

"Darryl's," she replied then held her hands up again. "don't worry, I got him to the hospital, and I made sure before I left that he was stable,"

"What happened," Phoebe asked, focusing her eyes as if the story were in the red smears on her white pants. "why didn't you bring Darryl here," Paige glanced at Leo for a moment, and she could tell the question on his mind was 'why didn't you heal him yourself.'

"I saw Darryl at the court house," she started, trying to figure out which parts of her surprisingly long day should be mentioned and which didn't. "He was working on this case, with this felon, and he wasn't sure what was going on, why he kept getting off," she passed a hand through her hair then paused, looking down at her red hand. "then he got this call, it was him, Benjamin, and we drove to the scene and chased him down, but," she got quieter and quieter. "It was the Seer," she said. The only one standing in the basement that had the beginnings of a knowing look was Cole, and he still looked a little perplexed.

"Wait, what?" Piper said, "the Seer what, was the guy?" Paige shook her head.

"She, gave him the athame, I think," Paige worked the situation back and forth in her mind. "She must have. Well, anyway, he had it, and it made him,"

"Like me," Cole said hollowly, a far away look over his face. Phoebe's touch brought him back to the present. "or at least, like I was,"

"Kinda wish I had known you were bullet proof before today," Paige said, anger in her voice, then she sighed "but it wouldn't have mattered, I didn't see it until it was too late, and Darryl got cut up pretty bad," Leo squinted up at the young witch.

"Where is the weapon," he said flatly. Paige gestured forward with her hand.

"I called it to me, but when I touched it," she shuddered visibly. "It was horrible. But then Darryl shot Benjamin, and then the Seer showed up. She said something about it being sealed by good or the blood of innocents or something,"

"Are you sure, that's all she said?" Leo asked directly. Paige shook her head.

"I had to get Darryl out of there, he'd been hit with a ricochet I think, and I didn't, she had the athame, and," she shook herself "I was just freaked out. How are we supposed to stop that? It's like,"

"Stopping Cole," Piper said, dread creeping into her bones.

"Yeah when he was invincible, except whoever has it will really want to kill us," she caught Cole's expression out of the corner of her eye, and she cut her eyes at him. "What?" Cole shrugged, defensively.

"Well," he started, unsure "you just accepted that I was different, at least marginally. Thanks," he smiled.

"Shut up," Paige retorted.

"Paige," Phoebe said, Paige threw her hands up.

"Dammit Phoebe," Paige started.

"Paige," Piper chimed in. Paige growled at all of them and stomped up the stairs, pulling at her hair. "We need to let her calm down," she said, directing her attention to Cole, though she couldn't say why.

"That may not be an option," Leo said. "I still need to talk to you three," Piper rolled her eyes, putting her head against Leo's chest.

"This is turning into the longest week ever," she said to no one in particular.

"At least breakfast was nice," Cole said.

"Yeah," Phoebe said, smiling at him. "You have to take the bad with the good," she rubbed a hand over his chest, her eyes imagining. Piper sighed, stepping forward to grab Phoebe by the arm.

"Ok, let's go hear about how the world is going to end this time," dragging her sister up the basement stairs. "You," she directed at Cole "Stay down here and figure out what other creepy and nifty things you can do now that you're, all," she waved her hand and walked up the stairs faster.

Upstairs in the kitchen Paige was making a sandwich angrily. Phoebe, her arm still gripped in Piper's hand watched along with Piper and Leo as she slapped the food together, kicking the counter and slamming the refrigerator door at intervals. She stopped with her back turned to them, knowing that they were there.

"What, now," she sighed, staring up towards the ceiling.

"We're sorry, Paige," Phoebe said.

"Really," Paige said, turning around. "just what are you sorry for?" Phoebe glanced at Piper, who also had nothing, stepping forward.

"Well, we understand," her big sister said. Paige rolled her eyes.

"No, you don't," she started angrily, then visibly calmed. "Look, guys. I just,"

"Can't help but blame Cole,"

"Phoebe, that is not helping," Piper shushed her.

"No, I'm not angry," she said, moving towards Paige. "I understand Paige, this tracks back directly to what he did, what he was, but," she looked between her sister. "how many times did something we did back fire and get people we care about hurt? We can't judge him for that. We can be mad at him, I mean I'm mad at him, but I'm working through it," Paige deflated a little.

"Well that's easy, you love him," adding under her breath "despite popular wisdom," Phoebe let the comment slide, breathing deeply.

"The point is that we can't condemn him for trying to do something he thought would help and there is a difference between reprimanding him and pushing him away for no good reason," she said.

"Yeah," Piper frowned, suddenly realizing Phoebe had for once said the right thing and she hadn't needed to help. She bent sideways, looking up at her husband "now what were you saying," Leo looked down at her and then over at her sisters.

"There's going to be a new source," he said without preamble. Piper's mouth dropped open.

"Alright, well that was sudden," she said. Leo held up his hand.

"Well, maybe not a new source, per se," he said, explaining "it doesn't involve any prophecy or anything, but at the mention of what happened with Cole the Elders revealed that there's always been some powerful demonic artifact associated with the leader of the underworld. We're familiar with the source and the grimoire but the person with the position has had different names, and possessed different artifacts to gain the rank," he paused "but a change is coming,"

"I and I think we know what this new person is going to use as a leg up," Phoebe said, looking around.

"Still level headed about going downstairs and kicking his head in?" Paige glanced at her sister. Phoebe scratched the bridge of her nose.

"No," she said calmly. "I still love him. I will always love him, but sometimes I want to strangle him," she admitted.

"Welcome to my world," Piper said, smiling at Phoebe. Leo frowned momentarily, looking down at his wife. Paige couldn't help but grin, feeling the stress ease from her frame.

"Alright," Paige said. "So, there's going to be a new leader of the underworld that will unite the forces of darkness under him. He'll have Cole's old powers and probably a bunch of his own," she paused to put the sandwich together and taking a hefty bite. "Cool, after I shower I'll be in my room with the book," she said walking from the kitchen. She stopped before leaving, addressing Phoebe "Smack him good for me, will you?" she said. Phoebe smiled shaking her head.

"Absolutely."

The Seer waited patiently in the huge chamber. Walls of jagged earth curved inward aggressively as if the entire place were a dark maw. In front of her was a huge door bolstered with huge slabs running laterally and chains leashing the door closed. All around her there was activity as demons went about with magical and mundane tools, trying at every turn to pry the door open. The Seer smiled, staring forward. As it was foretold, with the balance shifted, certain pathways, thought forgotten, had been remembered and reopened. Dark ways had become renewed with menacing promise and she had been the one to see it all, the grand architect of a grander design.

The doors budging pulled her from her reverie. It was a cross between the screams of rust metal and the screams of innocents.

"Come forth, my lord," the Seer intoned. "Come forth and lead us, accept this boon and take your throne," she finished, revealing the athame, extending it forward to the then opening door way.


End file.
